ever he may be.'

In this way Graham argued with himself, and shortly came to the
comfortable conclusion that Dr Pendle's secret would never become a
public scandal. Now that Jentham, _alias_ Krant, was dead, the secret
was known to three people only--namely, to the bishop, to himself, and
to Gabriel. If none of the three betrayed it--and they had the strongest
reason for silence--no one else would, or could. The question of the
murder was the immediate matter for consideration; and once Dr Pendle's
innocence was proved by the capture of the real assassin, Cargrim could
be dismissed in well-merited disgrace. With all the will in the world he
could not then harm the bishop, seeing that he was ignorant of the dead
man's relation to Mrs Pendle. Other danger there was none; of that the
little doctor was absolutely assured.

Perhaps the bishop argued in this way also; or it may be he found a
certain amount of relief in sharing his troubles with Gabriel and
Graham; but he certainly appeared more cheerful and less worried than
formerly, and even tolerated the society of Cargrim with equanimity,
although he detested playing a part so foreign to his frank and
honourable nature. However, he saw the necessity of masking his dislike
until the sting of this domestic viper could be rendered innocuous, and
was sufficiently gracious on such occasions as he came into contact with
him. Gabriel was less called upon to be courteous to the schemer, as,
having come to a complete understanding with his father, he rarely
visited the palace; but when he did so his demeanour towards Mr Cargrim
was much the same as of yore. For the good of their domestic peace, both
father and son concealed their real feelings, and succeeded as
creditably as was possible with men of their honourable natures. But
they were not cunning enough--or perhaps sufficiently guarded--to
deceive the artful chaplain. Evil himself, he was always on the alert to
see evil in others.

'I wonder what all this means,' he ruminated one day after vainly
attempting to learn why Gabriel had returned so unexpectedly to
Beorminster. 'The bishop seems unnecessarily polite, and young Pendle
appears to be careful how he speaks. They surely can't suspect me of
knowing about the murder. Perhaps Baltic has been talking; I'll just
give him a word of warning.'

This he did, and was promptly told by the ex-sailor not to advise on
points of which he was ignorant. 'I know my business, sir, non