it would be hard to say who was the palest and most terror-stricken of the trio who stood on the terrace. mrs. crosbie clung to her stern mother with dilated eyes, shaking like a reed: but mrs. berch, although stern and unmoved--outwardly at least--was also pallid. as for rebb, he leaned against the balustrade of the terrace scarcely able to speak. before him stood tod and arnold, gerald haskins and the girl whom he had treated so cruelly--the girl whom he had believed until now was at the bottom of some rural stream. the hour of retribution had come, and in a flash the guilty man saw everything he possessed reft from him--saw also the structure of crime and falsehood he had reared crumble into dust. his worst enemy would have pitied the major in that hour of agony.

"you!" he faltered, staring at mavis, as though she were indeed the ghost he almost believed her to be. "you!"

"ah!" murmured macandrew complacently, "so geary did not deliver my message to you after all."

"geary!" the major stood erect, braced for the coming struggle, and his face hardened. "did geary know this----" and he pointed to mavis.

"i told him the truth last night."

"and he never told me; he never warned me." rebb clenched his fists. "oh the scoundrel! i might have---- but there, it is too late--too late."

"what do you mean by too late?" said mrs. berch imperiously, and throwing a protecting arm round her daughter, "fight for madge if you will not for yourself."

but rebb paid no attention to her. "geary! geary!" he muttered, looking round with bloodshot eyes, "he was in the courtyard an hour ago, and he did not tell me, curse him! he may be---- geary! geary!" he raised his voice to an angry cry and ran swiftly along the terrace through the arch and into the quadrangle.

gerald took the hand of his wife and followed quickly, with tod and the ex-tutor behind. they did not wish to lose sight of rebb. for one moment mrs. berch and her daughter looked at one another, and madge hung back, trembling. but the mother suddenly seized the widow's wrist and dragged her, a miserable figure, pale-faced, and shaking in her gay attire, into the quadrangle. "we must see what michael will do," whispered mrs. berch, passing her tongue over her dry lips. "he may win the day yet."

"no, no," moaned mrs. crosbie; "he is lost."

at the far end of the quadrangle gerald and mavis saw the token of geary's drunken handiwork. a considerable portion of the ivy-clothed wall had fallen outward, and lay in ruins on the lip of the cliff. three or four trees had been dashed into the pool below, and there was a clear view across the ruddle to the green forest beyond. the mystery of the enchanted castle was at an end, and, no longer a palace of the sleeping beauty, it lay open to the world, as morgan had said. and now in its romantic quadrangle there were sterner doings than the moonlight wooings of lovers who had, for the moment, recalled the golden age, when the gods came down to men.

"geary! geary!" shouted rebb, rushing towards the fallen wall, and mounting its ruins. there was no response, and gerald fancied that rebb had merely made an excuse, so as to get near the river and throw himself in. but, guilty or innocent, the major was sufficiently brave to face the sins he had committed, and came down again slowly to the group near the battered sundial. he was still livid, but more self-controlled.

"i shall deal with geary later," he said thickly, "in the meanwhile i can deal with you."

"we are quite ready," said gerald tranquilly.

"who are we?" questioned rebb scathingly.

"myself and my wife."

"she is not your wife. a marriage with a madwoman is not legal."

mavis shuddered, and clung to gerald's arm. it was the first time that she had been called mad to her face. "oh, guardian," she wailed, "how can you say that of me when i was so fond of you?"

"you had every reason to be fond of me," said rebb harshly, and his eyes gleamed as he thought the girl was weakening. "i gave you a happy home, in this delightful place, because your brain was not strong enough to bear the troubles of this world."

mavis withdrew her hand from gerald's arm, and looked scornfully at the liar, whom she now saw in his true colors. "you kept me here that you might enjoy the money which my father left to me," she declared, in haughty tones, "you betrayed the trust your dead friend placed in you. i was a weak girl, and an ignorant one, to believe in your lies: but now," she added, stepping forward a pace, "now, major rebb," and her use of the name showed the attitude she intended to adopt, "i call upon you to give me back my money, and leave this place, which belongs to me."

"no madwoman can possess money," said mrs. crosbie shrilly. she saw the major's income was about to be lost, and that it would be useless to marry him. "michael, call the police and have her removed."

"one moment," said gerald quietly. "you go too fast, mrs. crosbie. but i am glad to see you at last as you really are. i thought you were my friend. i now see that you are my enemy. my wife is perfectly sane, and, as her husband, i shall see that her sanity is proved."

"call the police--call the police!" cried mrs. crosbie furiously; and she broke from her mother's grip. "how dare you stand there and insult me, gerald? i was your friend, and i will be your friend still, if you will shut up that girl, and apologize."

tod laughed at the weakness of this speech. "if you cannot find anything better to say, mrs. crosbie, you had better hold your tongue," he said caustically. "even if mrs. haskins is shut up the money still belongs to her husband. major rebb has lost that for ever. it is the money you are after, madam."

"yes, it is; yes, it is," said mrs. crosbie, utterly reckless, and defying the efforts of her mother to keep her silent. "if you knew the miserable years of poverty i have had you would not wonder at my wishing for the money. my marriage with michael will save me from shame and misery and--and----" she choked with mingled terror and rage, and mrs. berch pulled her back roughly.

"are you a fool to talk like this?" she muttered. "hold your tongue, you silly child." she shook her angrily. "wait until michael settles this affair. major rebb?" she turned inquiringly to her proposed son-in-law.

"i shall settle this affair very speedily," said rebb, walking across the lawn towards the archway, "my man shall go for the police. or, better still, that coachman who drove you from silbury, mavis, shall go back to bring inspector morgan. i am very sorry that you have thrust yourself into danger. but i should not be doing my duty by society if i did not have you imprisoned."

"as a lunatic?" asked mavis scornfully. she had quite lost her old dread of the major by this time.

"as a murderess," he retorted.

"prove that," said haskins, stepping in rebb's path.

"out of my way," growled rebb, looking dangerous.

"you have brought a serious accusation against my wife," persisted the young man, "and i intend to make you prove it. on what grounds do you say that my wife is crazy?"

"she has been all her life," said the major, forced to answer, for he saw very plainly that haskins would knock him down if he attempted to pass the archway. not that the major feared a fight, but his situation was so desperate that he wished to adjust things as quietly as possible. his threat to call the police was bluff, as gerald knew, and because gerald did know rebb was furious.

"prove that she has been mad all her life," said haskins coolly. "mavis has been with mrs. pelham odin since she left here, and that very clever old woman cannot see that my wife is mad: nor can macandrew, nor arnold, nor anyone else."

"i can, i can!" cried mrs. crosbie, with a bright red spot burning on either cheek, and looked very angry.

"ah! you are a prejudiced witness, seeing that you wish to marry major rebb, for the income he is now losing."

"that he has lost," interposed tod, in a dry legal tone: "the conditions of julian durham's will have been fulfilled, and mrs. haskins now takes possession of her property."

"how can you prove that my wife is mad?" asked gerald again, and taking no notice of the interruption, "have you had her examined by two doctors, according to law?"

"no," replied rebb grudgingly.

"then how dare you shut her up in this house? i shall bring an action against you, on behalf of my wife, for false imprisonment."

"you had better think twice before you do that," said the major, in icy tones, "for i shall retort with an accusation of murder."

"you say that my wife murdered bellaria?"

"i do," said rebb doggedly. "i swear to it."

"i dare say; but you have yet to prove your accusation. i am quite willing to allow mavis to be arrested." gerald stepped aside. "go and fetch the police, rebb. they will be here soon."

"here!" rebb started and turned a shade paler.

"i left instructions at the police station before coming here that inspector morgan was to come with two men. when they arrive you can give mavis in charge and then we can submit your accusation of insanity to a couple of doctors, and your charge of murder to a jury."

"then," cried mrs. crosbie viciously, "michael will get back his money."

"i think not," replied gerald coldly. "i take charge of that."

by this time the courage was oozing out of rebb, who had not expected the young man to take up such an attitude. "cannot we arrange this matter quietly?" he asked, trying to appear composed.

"no," said the other quietly. "the offer you made me in yonder room does not suit me."

"an offer?" said mrs. berch, in her deep voice.

"i offered to let haskins marry mavis and take her to america, if he--or rather she--surrendered half the income."

"i refuse, as gerald refused," said mavis proudly. "i prefer to stand my trial. i am not going to pass the rest of my life under a cloud for your sake, major rebb."

"your sister--your twin sister--shall get the money," cried rebb, at his wits' end how to deal with the situation. "ah, you never knew that."

"i knew when gerald told me," said mrs. haskins composedly, "and i more than suspected it before. indeed charity allowed me to pass as herself, so as to save me from you. i shall repay that, with three thousand a year. my husband and i have arranged that."

"you passed as charity," cried rebb, amazed.

"yes; i danced at the belver theatre, and----"

"it's a lie--you couldn't. what became of charity, if you did that?"

"charity was with me," said tod, stepping forward.

"with you?"

"yes, as my wife."

major rebb jumped, and staggered against the sundial. "so both the sisters are married?" he muttered.

"they are," said tod, "and they have agreed to share the income you have held all these years. i am afraid that the game is up, major."

rebb said nothing. the game was indeed up, and he did not know which way to turn, or how to get the better of his pitiless opponents. mrs. berch left her daughter for the moment and touched his arm. "why did you not tell me that there was another girl?" she asked hoarsely and savagely.

"there was no need." and the major shook her off.

"there was every need. you told me, you told madge, that your income depended upon mavis durham----"

"mavis haskins, if you please," interpolated that young lady.

mrs. berch paid no attention. "on mavis durham not marrying. you said that if in some way her insanity could be proved, and she could be stopped from marriage, that your income would be safe. for that reason my daughter wished to marry you."

"she loved me," said rebb unsteadily, and looked at mrs. crosbie.

"i loved you as well as any other man," she said coolly, and shrugging her shoulders, "but i would have married anyone to escape from debt and duns and hideous poverty. as you are now poor, of course i cannot marry you. come, mother. there is nothing more to be got here. let us go back to our misery."

rebb said nothing, but turned very white. the woman for whom he had sold his soul was ready to cast him aside like an old glove. mrs. crosbie, with a vicious glance at mavis, and a look of indifference at the man she had professed to love, took her mother's arm. mrs. berch was quite ready to go, and indeed seemed to be in a hurry to depart. but the path of the two was blocked by the tiny figure of arnold, who had hitherto held his peace.

"so you did know that the major's income depended upon mavis being prevented, even by the murder of bellaria, from marrying?"

"what is that to you? let me pass," cried mrs. crosbie haughtily.

"we," arnold waved his hand to include gerald and tod, "we thought that you were ignorant, and so could not guess what was your motive for murdering that unfortunate woman."

"murder!" mrs. crosbie went a dead-white, and became as rigid as a corpse.

rebb started and came forward.

"you must be mistaken," he said, in shaking tones to arnold.

"he is a foul liar," said mrs. berch, grasping her daughter to keep her from falling. "let us pass, sir."

"no," said arnold, still holding his ground, and speaking loudly, while the others kept silence. "when inspector morgan comes you shall be arrested. i shall give you in charge for this murder, of which mrs. haskins is wrongfully accused."

mrs. crosbie shrieked, looking a pitiable spectacle of fear and shame, as she clung to her mother. but that stern lady, although white and also terrified, controlled her feelings with iron nerve. "on what grounds do you accuse my daughter?" she demanded.

"i saw you and her in a motor car at belldown--i saw you on the way here--you were at the gates of the pixy's house shortly before twelve o'clock, waiting for bellaria, whom you lured to the gate by means of a letter."

"i was at bognor--i was at bognor," cried mrs. crosbie, shaking with fear.

"no," interposed tod. "my clerk went to watch you at bognor. neither you nor mrs. berch went there at all. you were down here. come, mrs. crosbie, you may as well confess. we can prove all about the motor car, and your presence here."

"madge! madge!" cried rebb, who looked horrified, "is this true?"

but mrs. crosbie only clung sobbing to her mother, being terrified almost to death. at the same moment that rebb spoke inspector morgan, with a couple of policemen, entered the quadrangle, and advanced towards the group. "you wanted me here, mr. haskins?" he asked inquiringly. "i got your message, and here i am with my men. what is it?"

"in the first place," said gerald quietly, "allow me to present to you my wife," then when morgan saluted in a puzzled way, he continued, "once known as mavis durham."

"what!" morgan grew red, and his eyes almost started out of his head. "do you mean to say that this lady is mavis durham?"

"mavis haskins now," said the girl, with a perfectly calm smile, "and i surrender myself to you willingly."

"i arrest you in the king's name for murder," gabbled morgan, trying to recover his official dignity. "anything you say now will be used in evidence against you." and he signed to his subordinates, likewise startled out of their wits, to take charge of the girl. arnold sprang forward as a young constable placed his hand on mavis' arm.

"stop," he cried. "mrs. haskins is innocent. here is the guilty woman." and he pointed to mrs. crosbie.

"no, no! you can't prove that--you dare not--you----"

"i can prove it!" cried arnold, bluffing. "mrs. crosbie was at the gate of the pixy's house at the time bellaria dondi was murdered. a dozen witnesses can swear that she was in the neighborhood."

"is this true?" morgan asked the little widow, whose gaiety was all gone, and who suddenly looked twice her age.

"it is not true! it is not true!" she cried. "mother and i were at belldown. we went on to see major rebb at denleigh."

"hush, you fool!" muttered mrs. berch, shaking her.

"you never came near me there!" cried rebb, and then became aware that, on the impulse of the moment, he had ruined the widow. in a paroxysm of shame and terror, for the man did love the miserable woman, he added: "mrs. crosbie is innocent. i swear she is. i know who is guilty."

"you?" everyone cried out, inspector morgan loudest of all. the scene was beyond his comprehension, and he was on the verge of an apoplectic fit. the whole scene was melodramatic and unreal, and, on the stage, or when written in a book, would have been described so by critics.

"who is guilty?" demanded morgan fiercely.

"geary--adonis geary," said rebb. "the knife was his, and i found him in the grounds when i arrived."

there was a savage shout before he could finish, and geary sprang from behind the ruined river wall. he had been concealed there, and had heard everything: but he did not appear until his adored master accused him of the crime. then terror and rage made him leap forward, half mad and half drunk. "you say one big lie, sah!" he shouted, with rolling eyes, and a thick voice. "i lubbed you once, but now you would kill me with a lie. i tell who did kill dat poor bellaria."

"who killed her?" asked gerald, for morgan was too bewildered to ask.

geary looked slowly round, and pointed to mrs. berch.

"oh, mother, mother," cried mrs. crosbie, "i would have saved you if i could."