208 111

mnterest ; and surely vou cannot be inc'lif(vrvnt to the grave charge that is hanging over vou

“ T am not indifferent,” she munnumd with Al (166]) sigh.

“Then let me myw yoeu to confide movour solicitors,” 1 said, “and withhold nothing from them that may enable them to prepare your defence.”

“T1 shall confide m no one,” she rephed m the same idifferent, same sweetly pathetie tone.

“ But think of the consequences,”

“ T have thought of everything.”

“Remember Miss Artois, vour silence and refusal to give mt()lm wion will he wanta- mount to a tacit confession of guilt.”

FFor a moment her dreamy eyes scemed to Tose their dreaminess and to be expressive of an hinite pain, as she answered with quite a fiery cenergy -

“T am zof guilty 7 She cmphasis on the word “not.”

“Then,” saad 1o quickly, = do all vou pos- can to prove vour guiltlessne ws T and in order that there should he no ambiguity m- my maunng, I added b vou are the victim ol anyone, for Heaven's sake let 1t be known. IFFor the sake ol your lover conceal not the truth.”

“or the sake of my lover and the Tove | hear hime T owill die,” she murmured, with the dreaminess which scemed peculiar to her.

“Then withhold nothing from your soli- citors,” 1 repeated.

“Go 7 oshe sad, peremptorilyy oas o oshe sanlk mto her scat agam, and resumed her reading.

I urged.

Lud peculiar

“Have yvou no message to send to My, Kmgsley? 7 1 asked.

“Go 7 oshe repeated, without lookimg at me.

“Tet me take some comforting word from yvou to Mr. Kingsley,” 1 ummtc(l

She made no 1u)l\ but apparently -was deeply alsorbed m the ook, [Fecling that it would he uscless to remamm any l(mgu, [ withdrew, and as I did so she did not even look up from the book, nor did she make any response when T bade her adieu.

I had promised to call upon Mr. Kingsley and acquaimt him with the result of my mter- view with Miss Artois : and 1 carried out this promisc with a sense of distress that [ could hardly deseribe, because 1 was quite unable to give him the assurance he so much wanted that his Jrancée was guiltless. Guiltless she was, 1n once sense, T owas sure s but T was conscious of the fact that I wus confronted with as complicated a human

STRAND

M AGAZINT,

problem as I had cever been

fmd a solution of.

called upon to

I put the best face T could on matters while talking to young Kingslev: and on

leaving him 1 felt convineed that my first surmise with reference to the coachman being a party to the robbery was a correct one. I had not been slow to determine that Miss Artors” temperament was one of those deeply sympathetic and poctic ones which are pecu- liarly subject to the influence ol stronger wills.

In short, I came to the conclusion that the conchman was the really guilty person, and Miss Artois was his vietim. - He- inomy opmion-- had exercised some strange mes- merie fluence over her, and she had been cntirely under his swav. T was confirmed m this view when T olearnt that the great Spieglemann had gathered up a mass of cireumstantial - evidence which tended to prove that Miss Artors had heen in the habit for a long time of visiting some ol the lead- g tradesmen m all quarters of TLondon, and that these tradesmen had heen robbed of property which i the aggregate represented many thousands of poundu

It was altogether a peculiar presented two o startling nature ; and 10 Miss

case, as it phases of human Artors had smned, she had smned not because her inclinations tended that way, hut because her non-resist- my, sympathetic nature had been made an mstrument for the profit and gain of a debased and wicked man who did not seruple to usc this beauttful girl as a means to an end.

My next step was to hurry off to the Fandens at "Thames Ditton, in order that | might get full particulars from Mr, Tamworth o his coachman, having the man citested. The Lindens was a large house,

standing 1 its own grounds, and cv uythmg tlm place was HllggLHLI\L ol wealth and

before

comfort. I was ushered mto an clegantly furnished drawimg-room, and a few minutes later the door opened, and o little, podgy, bald-headed mang wearing gold eye-glasses, and dressed noa large patterned dressing

cown and Turkish shippers, entered, and cyed me with o panr ol strangely keen and hawk-like ceyes. It was Mr. Tamworth, and I many respects he was a striiking and remarkable man, for his face was strongly marked, his cyes of unusual, alimost unnatural l)l'i”ii'lfl(,‘}’, the mouth firm, the square jaw mdicative of an ron will. He was perfectly clean shaved, so that every feature, every line and angle were thrown mto stronger prominence.