A hansom pulled up in front of 799, Park Lane, and a slim figure of a woman, dressed in deep mourning, ran up the broad flight of marble steps leading to the house. Her features were closely concealed...

A few moments later and Ravenspur’s brougham was being rapidly driven in the direction of the Grand Hotel. No words were spoken on the journey, but Ravenspur did not fail to notice how his companion s...

A sudden quick cry broke from Ravenspur’s lips. He fairly staggered back, his white face was given over to a look of peculiar horror. Then, as he became aware of the curious glances of his companion h...

It was such an unusual thing for Lord Ravenspur to show his feelings so plainly. For the most part he passed as one of the most self-contained men in London. He had always boasted, too, of perfect hea...

The conversation became more general now, so that it was possible a moment later for Ravenspur to slip out of the studio without his absence being observed. He went swiftly away to the library, where ...

Vera turned away and walked quietly from the room, leaving the two men face to face. Lord Ravenspur was the first to speak. “I am sorry for this,” he said; “more sorry than I can tell you. Strange how...

The suggestion of tragedy brooding in the darkness held Lance back just for the moment. He was almost afraid to proceed lest he should find something even worse than he had expected. Then his hand fum...

Nobody in the Park Lane house appeared to have the slightest suspicion that anything had been wrong. The stolid, well-trained servants accepted the explanation of the broken door quite as a matter of ...

All that evening and most of the next day Walter brooded over his startling discovery. He said nothing to anybody about it, though he had attempted the night previously to follow up the clue. The atte...

Something like a thrill of real excitement ran through the spectators. The remark was made so quietly and in such a natural tone, that nobody dreamt of questioning the word of the witness. Then it wen...

“Take your time,” Dallas said, encouragingly. “I don’t want to hurry you. All I want are facts.” “It is beginning to come to me now,” the clerk said thoughtfully. “Yes, I remember it quite distinctly....

It was some little time before Lord Ravenspur replied. For a moment or two he seemed to be bereft of the gift of speech. “It sounds almost incredible,” he managed to stammer at length. “You are absolu...

Venables regarded the painting with deep interest. All his journalistic instincts were now aroused. It appeared to him that he was on the eve of tapping a perfect gold mine of sensational “copy.” “Now...

Most of the lights in the houses in Park Lane were out when Walter reached his uncle’s residence. But as he entered the hall he could see that the studio was still ablaze. The door was closed, but a t...

“The danger would certainly lie there,” Walter said thoughtfully. “My dear boy, that is just where the danger comes in,” Ravenspur replied. “I haven’t the remotest idea whether Vera is like or unlike ...

“You have made a most extraordinary mistake,” Walter said. “On and off I have known Mrs. Delahay for some considerable time. I am quite certain that she is no relation whatever to Countess Flavio.” “A...

“That is very strange,” Lance murmured. “I am told that the trial in question was the talk of Europe for two or three years. I believe the papers were full of it at the time. And yet you don’t seem to...

Left alone to herself, Maria Delahay had summed up the situation clearly and logically. Beyond all doubt her sister was still alive. Beyond all doubt Carlotta had been staying at the Grand Hotel withi...

“Oh, this is terrible,” the Countess stammered. “Of course it is,” Maria Delahay cried. “Why don’t you be candid with me? I have told you what my name is, and, besides, you already knew. When you saw ...

“How did you know my husband was in England?” Maria asked. “I didn’t,” the Countess confessed. “I looked for him all over the Continent. I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, whic...

“It is plain enough to me,” Silva growled; “but then I am acquainted with the facts of which you two know nothing. With all his faults, Count Flavio was passionately attached to his little girl. Throu...

The great house in Park Lane was brilliantly lighted up, and passersby asked themselves what distinguished company Lord Ravenspur was entertaining tonight. Inside the house the master of it all was co...

“Well, and what is it now?” Ravenspur asked. “You look as if you had seen a ghost. Is there anything new in this ghastly business? Have the police solved the problem?” “On the contrary, the problem ge...

Walter choked down an ugly word that rose to his lips. He resented the intrusion just at a moment when he particularly desired to be alone with Vera. Who was it, he wondered, who came so late? And who...

Meanwhile, Walter Lance had lost no time in reaching the studio. It did not need any elaborate explanation on the part of Maria Delahay for him to know that, in some way, the danger came from the man ...

The words were uttered with a grim coldness that caused Walter to shiver. This was worse than any outbreak of fury, worse than homicidal mania in its most acute form. The man was sane enough beyond al...

It was a long time before Lord Ravenspur replied. He paced up and down the studio immersed in his own gloomy thoughts. Then gradually his face cleared, his eyes flashed with resolution. “I begin to se...

Amongst her many friends, and in the keen enjoyment of the evening, Vera forgot her fears. She was young enough to appreciate to the full the joys of life. She was strong and vigorous, and most things...

“If the secret were only my own I would not hesitate a moment,” Walter said. “Be patient a little longer, my dearest girl. I am quite sure that Ravenspur will tell you when the proper time comes. Once...

A peculiar grim smile came over the face of the man who called himself Amati. He hesitated no longer, but with a single bound had reached Vera’s side, his arm was around her neck and his right hand pr...

It was practically daylight now, so that the greatest caution was absolutely necessary. It was possible to obtain cover behind a group of thorn bushes and take observations of the house. But even that...

Roused by the angry uproar of the dogs, a tall, round-shouldered individual appeared in the doorway. He had a melancholy cast of face which was intensified by the lank black hair which hung upon his s...

It was with the greatest difficulty that Walter restrained himself. He dared not look round again until Silva’s back was turned and the Italian returned to the house. Even then it would have been impo...

Vera opened her eyes at length. Gradually the things that had happened came back to her. She recognised the futility of resistance. All she could do was to wait and hope for the best. But despite the ...

At any other time the trifling incident would have escaped Vera’s attention. But she had nothing else to occupy her mind now. She wondered what it meant. There was no doubt that the official-looking p...

“I cannot do it,” Vera said quietly. “Forgive me if my words hurt you, but so far I have no evidence to prove that you are anything more than a mere impostor. You claim to be my mother, and perhaps yo...

Outside in the garden, under cover of the darkness, Ravenspur and his companion waited anxiously for a sign from Walter. The minutes crept slowly on. Still there was nothing to break the silence. A qu...

Meanwhile, Walter was standing there in pitch darkness, utterly at a loss what to do next. He had no light to guide him. He had not the remotest idea in which direction the door lay. He took a step or...

The clamour ceased. Just for a moment an intense silence followed. Then there came the murmur of voices from without and the crash of splintering wood. Silva cursed himself for his folly. He had been ...

The hoarse yell for assistance rose yet again, this time more feeble than before. It was horrible to stand there in the darkness, looking helplessly around and trying to locate the direction from whic...

It was no difficult matter to find Mrs. Delahay, who, when the late startling developments were laid before her, made no demur in giving her sister’s address. Maria Delahay was looking just as pale an...

Without waiting for a reply the Countess turned away, and went back into the house again. In the drawing-room Vera was seated, talking earnestly to Lord Ravenspur. There was an awkward pause as the Co...

Stevens stared helplessly at the speaker. He tried to speak, but his jaw dropped. He mumbled something that was quite impossible to understand. But, at the same time, he recognised the peril of his po...

Dallas shrugged his shoulders indifferently. Truth to tell he was both annoyed and disappointed. He had looked forward with every assurance to laying his hand on the actual culprit in the person of Co...

It was getting exceedingly late now, but the two sisters Descarti, together with Vera, were still in the drawing-room. Nobody cared to disturb them. It was felt that they would have much to say to one...

The hard, cold face had softened slightly. It seemed to Ravenspur that there was something akin to a smile in Countess Flavio’s eyes when once more they were alone in the drawing-room together. “Let u...

It was well into the following afternoon when the trained nurse came quietly down the stairs, and announced to Lord Ravenspur that her task was finished. Silva had died in his sleep. The troubled spir...