sir joseph branwin and miss rosy pearl duly arrived at weed-on-the-sands, and proceeded to the three fishers. here the millionaire, who had quite a bourbon dislike to be kept waiting, found a note from his daughter, which greatly annoyed him. mrs. shawe wrote that with her husband she had gone to town on business--she did not mention what the business was--and would return by the six o'clock train, which was timed to arrive at weed-on-the-sands at eight. there was nothing for it but to await the return of the newly-married couple or return to london.

"and i have a good mind to do so," fumed sir joseph, furiously, tearing up the letter. "how dare audrey treat me in this way, when i have taken the trouble to come down and see her--the minx!"

"i must say," remarked miss pearl, with her most virtuous air, "that your daughter shows little consideration for my feelings."

"for your feelings?"

"certainly. i came down here only on the understanding that mrs. shawe would be present to play the part of my chaperon."

"pooh! pooh! audrey is much younger than you are, rosy."

miss pearl coloured. "she is a married woman, sir joseph, and as such is able by her mere presence to protect my character. and i beg that you will not call me by my christian name in public. i do not know," went on miss pearl, in her heavy, rich voice, "whether it would not be better for me to return to london by the next train."

"nonsense! nonsense!"

"pardon me, sir joseph, but it is not nonsense. i have accompanied you here to witness a family reconciliation, and to show mrs. shawe that i am not an undesirable relative. but i have come down with you alone in the hope that mrs. shawe would be present. as she is not, i doubt the propriety of remaining here. in my profession one cannot be too careful. what is to be done?"

"we can wait here until audrey and her confounded husband return at eight o'clock. then everything will be all right."

"mrs. shawe may miss the train."

"well, well," said branwin, impatiently, "there is another at eight o'clock from london, which gets here at ten."

"at that hour it would be too late for me to return," miss pearl reflected. "i shall wait for the eight o'clock train, and if mrs. shawe does not return i shall go back to london by the nine o'clock."

"oh! i thought you were going to remain here for the night?"

"if mrs. shawe were here i should not do otherwise. what can you be thinking of, sir joseph, to suggest such a thing. even the fact that your portmanteau and my trunk have arrived together, as we have, is a reflection on my character, now that we have learnt the absence of mrs. shawe. however, i shall put the matter right. permit me."

then miss pearl sought out the landlady, and pointed out with many words that she had come to weed-on-the-sands as the guest of mrs. shawe, along with mrs. shawe's father. as mrs. shawe was not in the hotel, miss pearl expressed her determination to return to london by the nine o'clock train if the young lady did not come back with her husband. "therefore," ended the dancer, with an excessively virtuous air, "you will be pleased to see that my trunk is taken to the railway station if by eight o'clock my friend does not come."

the landlady quite understood, and promised to comply with the request, so miss pearl, having defended her character, graciously consented to partake of dinner: in the company of sir joseph at six o'clock. as the pair had arrived somewhat late in the afternoon the meal was served almost immediately, and during its preparation miss pearl chatted on select subjects with her companion. when the dinner was over and they had indulged in coffee, sir joseph proposed that miss pearl should accompany him for a stroll on the smooth sands.

"it is a lovely night," said branwin, looking out of the window at the full moon, "and quite a change after the fogs in london. you'll enjoy it."

"not on the sands," said miss pearl, majestically. "people would talk if i went with you on the sands at this hour without a chaperon. but i do not mind walking to the pier, which i notice is directly in front of this hotel. there we shall be in evidence, and--"

"i don't want to be in evidence. i wish to have you all to myself.'

"you are getting me all to yourself," said the dancer, coldly; "but it does not do for a professional artist, such as i am, to invite ill-natured criticism. my mother, who is a consistent baptist, always told me to be careful."

as they strolled across the road to the rude little pier sir joseph reflected how handsome she would look when the branwin diamonds were round her white throat and the branwin tiara was on her graceful head. she was rather a prude, he considered, but she was also extremely beautiful, so he had little to complain of. beauty and a passionless nature so rarely go together.

with the gait of a juno miss pearl walked on to the pier. it was now close upon eight o'clock, as they had lingered for some time over their coffee. the pier ran some little distance out into smooth water, and at the end were several seats. but there was no parapet round the verge of the jetty, and miss pearl chose to consider this somewhat dangerous.

"anyone might fall in with ease," she said. "bring the bench into the very middle, sir joseph, and we can then sit in safety."

the obedient millionaire did as he was told, although he would have laughed the former lady branwin to scorn had she proposed such a thing. but he was under the impression that his old uncomely wife was dead, and that he was free to marry this lovely and imperial creature, who ordered him about so freely. in fact, having always had his own way, he found a certain amount of delight in obeying her slightest whim. so the two took their seat on the bench, which was placed at the end of the pier, in the very centre, and well away from the dangerous water on either side.

the night was extremely lovely, being very still. the round moon floated like a golden bubble in a starry sky, and the channel waters were spread out for miles like a carpet of silver tissues gleaming with tiny points of glittering light. the sands stretched for a long distance towards a bold headland, which jutted into the gleaming sea, and along the front of the shore gleamed the many lights of the town. people were moving up and down to enjoy the beauty of the night, and there was the murmur of many voices and the sound of laughter. after the fogs and chill of the great city, the scene was ideal. miss pearl so far forgot her uneasy virtue in the presence of this calm beauty that she actually leant her head on sir joseph's shoulder and permitted him to slip a fond arm round her substantial waist. and this, with many people walking and talking only a stone's-throw away, although it must be admitted that they had the entire pier to themselves.

"did you do what i asked you to do, joseph?" demanded miss pearl, gently.

her use of his christian name informed the millionaire that he was entitled to the same privilege. "yes, rosy, my dearest," he whispered softly--that is, as softly as such a domineering bully could whisper. "you mean the allowance to audrey?"

"of course. she is your daughter, and, however badly she may have behaved, she should be looked after. if you cut her off with a shilling, as you said you would do, people would blame me, and i do not care about beginning my married life with the reputation of being cruel to my step-daughter. one can never be too particular, as my mother, who is a consistent--"

"yes, yes," interrupted branwin, who was rather weary of miss pearl's constant reference to her mother; "i quite understand. i have told my lawyer to write to audrey informing her that she shall have two thousand a year during my life, and i have to-day made a codicil to my will leaving her the same amount should i die. had she obeyed me in the matter of marrying lord anvers she would have had more; but i altered my will and reduced what i intended to leave her to that amount."

"it is quite enough," said miss pearl, after a pause, and rather nervously. "i hope everything is arranged legally?"

"yes, i have signed the codicil, and the letter will be sent to audrey at the three fishers to-morrow. why do you ask if i have arranged things legally?"

"because," said rosy pearl, still nervously, and leaning her head more fondly on her elderly lover's shoulder, "i have a confession to make to you. on the night poor lady branwin was murdered i was sleeping at the pink shop."

"i know, i know," said sir joseph, impatiently. "i heard from audrey that my wife intended to stay there also, and for that reason i came round to walpole lane. i thought that you might meet, and that there would be a row, for dora was always jealous of you. how she found out that i loved you i don't know, but she did." sir joseph drew a deep breath. "i was glad when in walpole lane i saw that everything was quiet. mrs. mellop saw me, however, when she and audrey called at the shop at half-past eight, and because she did hinted that i was concerned in the murder."

"i said just now," continued miss pearl, slowly, "that mrs. shawe was your daughter. she is not."

sir joseph violently pushed away the woman and sprang to his feet. "what is that you say?" he demanded, in an angry voice.

"you heard me, didn't you?" said miss pearl, doggedly. "mrs. shawe is not your daughter," and then she related what she had overheard about the kidnapping of colonel ilse's daughter, and the fraud that had been perpetrated on the millionaire by his wife.

"you knew this when you asked me to allow audrey--"

"yes, i did," said miss pearl, with mulish obstinacy, "and you must let the codicil remain, also the allowance."

"i'm hanged if i will!" said branwin, savagely. "why should i give my hard-earned money to another man's brat?"

"what is two thousand a year to you?" demanded rosy pearl, scornfully. "look what a reputation you will buy with it when the truth becomes known. it is worth the money. besides, whatever your wife and madame coralie may have done--and i don't deny that they have acted very badly--mrs. shawe is at least innocent. she should not be punished."

"she shan't have the two thousand a year."

"yes she shall. if you change your codicil, i change my mind."

sir joseph scowled at her. "you mean that you won't marry me?"

"yes, i do. after all, i can make a better match if i so choose. why, lord anvers asked me to marry him."

"what--when he was making love to my daughter--i mean to audrey?'

"yes. i thought that i could reform him, but he is a man of such a notoriously bad character that i decided to refuse him. but i have many offers, and i accept yours for certain reasons which i have no need to explain; but if you don't allow mrs. shawe this money i shall marry someone else. i assure you, sir joseph," said miss pearl, standing up in the full splendour of her beauty, "that i can marry anyone i like."

"i quite believe it," said branwin, grudgingly, for her beauty was undeniable and he wanted to possess it badly. "i shall take a few days to decide what is best to be done, as your revelation has taken me by surprise. i never cared much for audrey, but i really believed that she was my own child. the scheming women!"--and he clenched his huge fist fiercely. "tell me, rosy, have you any idea who murdered my wife?"

miss pearl shook her head. "the voices stopped suddenly, and when i went down the stairs later with the idea of seeing lady branwin and telling her what i knew, i found her dead. i believe," added miss pearl, cautiously, "that madame coralie murdered your wife."

"i quite believe it. just what that infernal flora would do," said sir joseph, grimly. "if she did--but there, as dora is dead i shall let the matter rest, although i should dearly like to bring flora to the gallows. the re-opening of the case would do me no good."

"nor me," said rosy pearl, decisively, "for i should have to confess to the police what i have confessed to you, and then i would be blamed for having kept it quiet so long. i only hope that miss perry toat will leave the matter alone."

"who is she?"

"a detective who is looking into the case on behalf of your--of mrs. shawe, and who called on me after she had heard that mr. shawe had seen me. i was forced to tell her all i knew, so she may--"

"she will," interrupted sir joseph, in an angry tone. "i daresay audrey and her husband have gone to town about the business, and--"

"hush!" miss pearl stopped him with a gesture. "someone is coming. do not speak of these very private matters so loudly."

sir joseph turned, and down the pier came a short, dark figure very rapidly, panting for breath. the figure was that of a woman, and advanced straight up to the millionaire. branwin pushed the newcomer back, and was about to speak, when she flung aside her veil. the millionaire staggered against miss pearl, and turned quite green with terror.

"what is it? oh! what is it?" cried the dancer, infected with his terror.

"who is it, you mean," said the woman, with a taunting laugh. "it is lady branwin, miss rosy pearl. you won't be able to marry my husband after all."

miss pearl, for once, was shaken out of her calmness, and but for her fashionable hat her hair would have risen on end. "lady branwin is dead!" she gasped, shrinking from the shapeless figure.

"lady branwin is very much alive," jeered the other woman, pointing at sir joseph. "look at that beast--that beast!" she glared.

sir joseph, astonished at this speech from his hitherto meek wife, recovered himself with a violent effort. "you aren't dora. she would never had dared to speak to me like that. you are flora, who--"

"i am dora, who has been hammered into hardness by your cruelty. flora is dead, and i masqueraded as her with the yashmak, and--"

"then--then," stammered miss pearl, with genuine horror, "you killed her?"

"yes," said lady branwin, simply, and looked triumphantly at her husband. "i killed her because she threatened to tell joseph that audrey was not his daughter."

"you--you fiend!" stuttered branwin, with a look of positive terror in his eyes. he could not understand how his formerly meek wife had changed into this hard, desperate woman, any more than he could exactly grasp how she had arisen from the dead in this startling fashion.

"i am what you have made me," said lady branwin, fiercely. "i was a good woman until you turned me into a fiend. but i have seen audrey, and i have told her all the truth. then i came down here to do justice."

"how--how did you know that i was here?" demanded sir joseph, who did not like the sinister looks of his wife.

"audrey told me that you and that woman were coming down to see her. i ran away into the fog when perry toat would have arrested me, and caught the six o'clock train. on arriving here i went to the hotel, and they told me that you were on the pier. and now"--she turned violently on miss pearl--"don't you dare to marry my husband."

miss pearl drew herself up. "i certainly shall not do so. my reputation--"

"is of the worst, you slut!" sneered lady branwin, beside herself with rage.

"it is wholly false," gasped the dancer, on her dignity at once. "i have an unspotted reputation, and my mother--"

"you are here alone with my husband. that is enough for me. how dare--"

"don't cry out so, dora; you will draw a crowd," said sir joseph, noticing that several people were turning their heads towards the pier.

"yes, i will draw a crowd." she came towards branwin, looking so fierce that he backed away from her. "you have ruined my life. i have lost audrey through you. there is nothing left for me to live for, and if i do live i shall be arrested for flora's death. you brute--you beast--you--you--" she backed him right to the end of the pier, and then, springing forward, threw her arms round him. "we will die together," she screamed wildly.

the next moment the two fell over into the deep water, and miss pearl ran wildly up the pier shrieking for help. it came too late. both man and wife were dead.