the lovers looked at one another in terror. calvert, surprised by laura's sudden entrance, had no time to compose his features. she, seeing his face, and coming to him already filled with suspicions against which she strove vainly to fight, reflected the paleness and haggard looks which startled her. for the moment both masks had dropped, and these human beings, devoured by terror, stared at one another as though the fabled gorgon had changed them into stone. arnold was the first to recover himself. he smoothed his face to a smile, and held out his hands, which she took in a passive manner. "i did not expect to see you here, dearest," he said, leading her to a chair. "but how ill you look. nothing is wrong, i hope."

laura sat down still gazing at him, but did not reply. "how does my sister's maid come to be in this house?" she asked abruptly.

"your sister's maid?" he repeated, staring.

"yes; emily doon. i saw her in the hall as the landlady let me in. as soon as she caught sight of me she vanished down the stairs to the basement. and those two men----"

"one question at a time, dear," said arnold calmly. he had now quite recovered his composure, and was prepared to deal with the situation. "and i shall answer the last first. the men who left me are a mr. jasher and professor----"

"bocaros," cried laura, striking her gloved hands together. "i thought i knew his face. i saw him once at mrs. baldwin's. he lives in a cottage across the meadow, and sometimes comes to borrow her paper. what a horrid face--what a detestable man!"

arnold looked rather surprised at her vehemence. "i certainly do not like the professor, and i met him to-day for the first time. it happens oddly enough that we are connected."

"connected?" echoed laura. "wait; i have some sort of idea. the professor told mr. tracey that he was a cousin of this woman who was killed at ajax villa----"

"her mother was the aunt of bocaros," explained calvert.

"and you are a cousin of the dead woman?"

"she was flora calvert before she married brand, the daughter of my uncle. bocaros and i are connected in a way by marriage. as to mrs. fane's maid being here--we shall soon learn the reason," and he touched the button of the electric bell.

mrs. varney, with her majestic air and false smile, answered so rapidly that it would seem she had been watching, if such a stately female would descend so low. she smiled ingratiatingly on laura, who, without waiting for arnold to speak, put the question. "i saw my sister's maid, emily doon, as i entered," she said; "what is she doing here?"

"what eyes you have, miss, i declare," said mrs. varney in her deep voice. "yes, miss, it is emily. she is my younger sister. i was a miss doon before i became mrs. varney. your sister kindly gave emily permission to spend a happy day with me, and this afternoon we are going to a matinée--hamlet," said the landlady in her most serious voice, "the whole of it--lasting five hours."

having thus stated her case, mrs. varney waited in the attitude of a startled fawn for a reply. laura apologised. "i beg your pardon for asking," she said colouring; "it is, of course, none of my business, but i was naturally surprised at seeing emily here."

"ah," mrs. varney cast a look at arnold, "we know all, miss. emily has told me. juliet's garden--and the forest of arden----"

"we are engaged, mrs. varney," said arnold, enraged by the impertinence of the landlady.

with her false smile she turned to the door. "certainly, sir, but as miss mason is in the forest of arden i would like her to know that emily is likewise there. that was why she was in the hall. she has an eye to professor bocaros," burst out mrs. varney with pride; "he admiring her greatly, and living in the vicinity of ajax villa. good-day, miss, and----" the landlady looked as though she would have liked to add, "bless you!" but an imperious glance from arnold sent her rapidly out of the room. stately as mrs. varney was, she loved to be bullied as all women in their hearts do. arnold's imperious manner only made her admire him the more. had he been a bully in addition, she would doubtless have adored him.

"i don't like it, arnold," said laura, starting to her feet when the door closed. "professor bocaros, in spite of his looks and poverty, is a gentleman. why should he take notice of emily, who is merely a servant? and she is here--oh, what does it mean?"

arnold, amazed by this outburst, looked at her in surprise. "my dear, what does it matter?" he said, pressing her to resume her seat. "i don't care if bocaros marries a laundress. he has nothing to do with me."

"he is a dangerous man, and you are in his way."

"am i? what do you mean?"

"can't you understand, arnold? he told mr. tracey that his cousin and yours, mrs. brand, intended to leave him the money. i learned from mrs. baldwin, who heard it from the professor himself, that you have got the ten thousand a year. the professor is poor--from what mrs. baldwin told me he is wretchedly poor. do you think such a man will tamely submit to the loss of a fortune? no, arnold, no. he is dangerous. take care. if emily doon has an eye to marrying the professor, she is not in this house for nothing."

calvert tried to soothe the excited girl. "my dear, you are unduly suspicious. mrs. varney has given us the reason for the maid's being here. bocaros cannot harm me in any way----"

"are you so sure?" asked laura sharply.

"what do you mean?" he asked.

"i mean that you will not be open with me. i love you. have i not proved how i love you. julia is against our marriage: but in spite of what she says i have remained true to you. yet you will not trust me?"

"with what? i am quite in the dark."

he may have been. yet there was a deep colour in his cheeks, and he looked uneasy. laura saw these symptoms of emotion, and placed her hands on his shoulders. "arnold," she said earnestly, "if you have any love for me you will speak out. look at this!" she hastily drew from her pocket the stage dagger. "this is yours?"

"it is," he admitted readily, and with a look of great surprise. "if you remember it was bought by me for the second act of this play. i showed it to you and----"

"you did. you showed it to me before the murder!"

arnold looked at her in silence. "perhaps you will permit me to explain," he said coldly, "as i really do not understand what you mean by such a speech. i lost that dagger----"

"you threw it into the dustbin after killing that poor woman!"

"laura!" calvert rose to his feet pale and trembling. from being a calm and resolute man he suddenly seemed to change into a coward. with white lips and a drooping figure, he stood in the middle of the room. "you will never say anything more cruel than that to me," he said in a low voice, and covered his face.

laura looked with sudden joy overspreading her face. "you are innocent," she cried, running to throw her arms round his neck. "i knew it. i was certain. dearest, i never believed--never. i said what i did say only to try you. but i know now that you did not kill this woman. i feel it in my heart. you forgive me--you forgive me--come, kiss me, arnold--kiss me and make friends."

in a lifeless manner he kissed her, and then submitted to be taken to his former seat. "now that we understand one another," said laura, sitting down and keeping his hand imprisoned within her own, "we must have a long talk. you are innocent----"

"how can you be sure of that?"

"because i am," she replied determinedly. "no, arnold. even if you swore that you were guilty i would not believe it. i tried you by making what you truthfully call a cruel speech, and your reply, although it may sound nothing to other people, brought conviction into my heart. but if i trust you, other people don't. this dagger!"

"where was it found?" asked calvert, examining it, but still pale.

"in the dustbin. the cook found it. she brought it to julia, who pretended that it was one she had worn at a fancy ball. then julia hinted at your guilt, from the fact that you must have worn such a dagger in the second act of the play. i denied that this was so, and came to see you. arnold, you must be plain with me. for some time, since the murder in fact, you must have seen how i have avoided you--how i have kept out of your way."

"yes," he said with bitterness, "i saw that. when i called at the house on that day a week or so ago, you avoided me. you have hardly replied to my letters save in the coldest way. you suspect me----"

"no," answered laura quickly; "i do not, though i have cause to."

arnold looked at her keenly. "what do you mean?" he asked quietly.

"surely you remember the appointment you made with me?"

"what appointment?" he said, still eyeing her, and the colour again ebbing from his face.

"for the night of the 24th july at half-past nine--on the very night that poor creature was killed."

"laura!" his voice was firmer now, and his looks expressed amazement; "it was you who made the appointment. you sent me----"

"wait, arnold. one thing at a time. there is something terrible and mysterious about this. i suspect pitfalls and snares likely to bring us into danger. i say, and i can prove it, that you made the appointment. i have your letter in my pocket asking me to meet you at half-past nine on that night. i would have destroyed it so as to put away all evidence of your having been at ajax villa on that night, but i kept it, as i wished to show it to you, and to ask how you came to gain possession of walter's latch-key!"

"you sent it to me!" he said, much astonished. "i have your letter also. the key was lost."

"you dropped it in the road when you spoke to the policeman?"

arnold nodded. "but how did you guess that i was the man who left the house--the man for whom the police are searching?"

"mulligan described your dress and said you had a pointed beard. you have such a suit and such a beard in the last act of the play. i knew then that you came later than i expected to keep the appointment, and in your hurry you had left the theatre without waiting to change your clothes or take off the false beard."

"in that case," said arnold, very pale, "you must think me guilty of flora's death, seeing that i left the house when----"

"no," interrupted laura quickly; "you did not come, at half-past nine, for i was at the gate waiting for you. i rang the bell, since you said you would admit me in your letter. as you came finally in your stage clothes, you must have been unable to get away earlier from the theatre. therefore, as flora was murdered before nine o'clock you must be innocent. but i never thought you guilty," she added tenderly, wreathing her arms round his neck, and whatever any one said i would never believe you killed the woman. you are not the man to commit a brutal murder. "yet arnold," her arms dropped and she looked anxious, "the evidence is strong. this dagger is yours, you left the house, the police are looking for you and----"

"all that goes for nothing, seeing i was not at the house before nine o'clock."

"you were not?" she exclaimed joyfully.

"no! listen, laura, and i will tell you the whole truth and you will see why i kept silent. like yourself--seeing that you deny writing the letter----"

"show it to me. we must have a clear ground before we can go further. here is the letter i received. look at it while i see if mrs. varney is lurking outside. i don't trust that woman, and now that i know my sister's maid, who loves professor bocaros, is here, i trust her less than ever. o arnold, how i wish i had come to see you before!"

"it would have been better. why did you not?"

"i was afraid. arnold, how could i come to you and declare that the man i loved was guilty? i did not believe it--no--but i knew that you had the key--that you had been in the house on that night!"

"i can explain that," said calvert quickly; "see if all is safe and return to your seat."

while laura peered outside the door, he opened a cash-box and took therefrom a letter. this he laid open on the desk beside the letter given to him by laura. when she returned, having ascertained that the coast was clear, he pointed to this last. "i never wrote that," he said firmly; "it is a forgery."

"and the letter you received is one also," said laura, staring at the document; "and oh, what a clumsy one! see--i do not separate my words like that. i often forget to dot my 'i's' and cross my 't's.' the signature is excellent--exactly like mine, but the rest of the letter is very bad--not at all a good imitation."

"but you will observe," said arnold, pointing again, "that you end 'yours in haste.' i thought the hurried writing was thereby accounted for. although i never suspected but that the letter was yours, i certainly thought that the calligraphy was different to your usual neat handwriting."

"i always write neatly," she replied, "and this letter is one i should have been ashamed to send out. but i use this colour and texture of paper," she sniffed it, "and the same kind of scent. i wonder how the person who forged this came to get my stationery. but, arnold, your letter is written from the theatre--here is the printed name both on the envelope and inside sheet. how could i doubt but that the letter, was yours. it came to me by post at mrs. baldwin's."

"and yours containing the latch-key came on the afternoon of the 24th july. it was delivered by messenger to mrs. varney, who brought it to me."

"what do you mean by containing the latch-key?"

"let us examine the letter first. then you will see!"

the letter to arnold at his lodgings, written on perfumed, lavender-tinted paper, contained a few hurried lines asking him to meet laura at ajax villa on the night of the 24th july at half-past nine. "i may be a little late," the letter continued, "so i send you the latch-key, which i got from walter who is at the seaside. you can let yourself in." the letter ended with an admonition not to fail to keep the appointment, and was signed with what appeared unmistakably to be laura mason's signature.

"i never wrote a line of it," said laura, very pale; "and i never sent the latch-key. walter was at the seaside certainly, but he would not have given me the key out of fear of julia. i stopped with the baldwins and never went to the villa while julia was away."

"the letter to laura at mrs. baldwin's, written on paper belonging to the frivolity theatre, likewise contained a few hurried lines saying that the writer would be with her as asked, at half-past nine on the night of the 24th of july, that he would obey instructions if he was early and admit her into the house if she rang the bell. it also stated that his understudy would play his part in the third man so that the appointment could be kept.

"i never wrote a line of that," said arnold when laura had finished reading the letter. "when did you get it?"

"on the afternoon of the 24th. i was astonished, as i knew i had not written you a letter about the villa, and i wondered how you would be able to let me in."

"now observe, laura," said calvert, sitting down, "both these letters are delivered to you and i so late that there is no chance of our meeting for an explanation save at ajax villa. it seems to me like a trap--whether for you or for me i cannot say--perhaps for us both."

"did you really come to the villa?" asked laura, knitting her brows.

"i did. you were right in your guess about my being the man who spoke to mulligan. when i received your letter i asked the manager to let my understudy take the part. he made some objection, but finally he gave permission for the change. then i came home, intending to keep the appointment at half-past nine, and wondering what you wished to say, seeing that we had met three days previously, and then you had given no hint of your possession of the latch-key."

"i wondered in exactly the same way," exclaimed the girl. "i said to mrs. baldwin on saturday night--the night you know--that i would go out for a stroll, the evening being hot. gerty was at the theatre with mr. tracey. i then went to the villa at half-past nine or a little later. i did not see you, and but few people were about. i slipped into the garden so as not to be seen waiting in the road. i was afraid lest any of julia's friends should see me. i then rang the bell somewhere near a quarter to ten, thinking you had arrived and were within. i rang and rang but no one appeared, so i fancied you had not been able to get away from the theatre, and returned to mrs. baldwin. i said i had been strolling in the nightingales' walk."

"did you see a light in the room where the crime was committed?"

"no! had i done so i should have waited. but the villa was quite in darkness," said the girl decisively. "you did not come?"

"i did later. there was a chapter of accidents. i came home rather tired and lay down to sleep after dinner. when i awoke it was nine o'clock. how i came to oversleep myself i can't say. i usually waken when i wish. then a message came from the theatre just as i was getting ready to come--although i knew i would be late for the appointment. my understudy was taken ill, so i had to go back and finish the play. afterwards, so eager was i to see if you were waiting, that i left the theatre without changing my clothes. i took a fast cab and reached achilles avenue about twenty or fifteen minutes to eleven."

"did you drive up to the door?" asked laura.

"no; i thought, for your sake, it was best to keep my visit quiet. i left the cab in circe street, and walked to the villa. no one was about. i went into the garden, but did not see you. i then walked into the house, letting myself in by the front door. i knew that you must have gone away, but i opened the door, just to see if you had left a note. also i saw a light on the second story and fancied you must have got in and were perhaps waiting for me. these things are rather contradictory," added arnold, passing his hand across his face, "but the mystery of your letter and the appointment rather worried me. however, i went in, and up to the white room. there i saw a woman lying, dead face upwards on the mat before the piano. i saw that she was my cousin and was horrified. i turned the body over, and found the wound. she had been murdered. i was horrified. at first i intended to give the alarm. then i thought that i might be accused of the crime----"

"but you had no motive," said laura, "unless you knew that the money would come to you in the event of her death."

"i did not know that," said arnold quickly; "no one was more astonished than i when i heard of the will. but at the time i was overcome by the horror of the deed. i had not my wits about me. i wondered how flora came there. then, my being her cousin and having the latch-key. o laura, can you not guess that i lost my head! waited to see how i could escape. i went down the stairs, and then opened the door. mulligan was leaning over the gate. i went and spoke to him, and escaped in the way the papers stated. i lost the latch-key and so i was connected with the matter. thanks to my stage dress and make-up, no one thought i was the man mentioned in the papers. i did not come forward at the inquest. now that the money has come to me, i dare not come forward. here is the motive for the commission of the crime,"--arnold walked up and down the room feverishly---"no one will believe me guiltless. laura, don't ask me any more. the peril of my position overwhelms me."

"darling." laura rose to embrace him. "i believe in your innocence. we will find out who killed the woman. do you suspect any one?"

"no," said arnold after a pause, and with an effort; "how can i suspect any one? i know very little of my cousin. but now that i have the money, i intend to learn the truth. laura, professor bocaros seems to suspect me. i can't say why he should. he cannot possibly know i was at the villa on that night. he brought jasher to me, and to avert all suspicion, i engaged jasher to hunt for the assassin."

"o arnold, have you laid that bloodhound on your own track?"

"yes; it seems foolish, but it is wise. even if jasher does learn that i was at the villa, he will say nothing if i pay him well. he is a venal creature, as i gathered this morning. he may find the real criminal, and take this horror out of my life. if he does not, he will never hurt me if i pay. it is the professor i fear."

"we must keep the professor quiet, arnold. let mr. jasher hunt. he may learn the truth, and that is better than this suspense. but what of the dagger i brought you?"

"it is mine. but after showing it to you i went to see my cousin. i left it there, i fancy, and it must have been flora who took it to ajax villa--heaven knows why! laura, what is to be done?"

"wait! wait!" she said, with her arms round him. "you are innocent, and your innocence will be proved. you employ jasher. i shall ask mr. tracey to help me."