atch box upon the floor. He
has given us no coherent account of what has happened yet, but it is
quite certain that he was attacked and robbed by Mr. Fielding."

"What was stolen?" Spencer asked. "Money?"

"No, a letter," Lord Runton answered. "Von Rothe says very little, but I
never saw a man so broken up. He has left for London to-night."

"The matter is in the hands of the police, of course?" Spencer asked.

Lord Runton shook his head.

"Von Rothe took me into his room and locked the door a few minutes after
we had discovered what had happened. He implored me to keep the whole
affair from the Press and from publicity in any form. His whole career
was at stake, he said, and very much more than his career. All that we
could do was to follow Mr. Fielding and drag him back by force if we
could. Even then he had little hope of recovering the letter. We did our
best, but, of course, we had no chance. Mr. Fielding and his daughter
simply drove off. Von Rothe is dealing with the affair in his own way."

"It is a most extraordinary story," Spencer said quietly.

Lord Runton turned towards him.

"I have treated you with confidence, Mr. Spencer," he said. "Will you
tell me now why you called at my house to see Mr. Fielding to-day?"

Spencer hesitated, but only for a moment.

"Certainly," he said. "I came because I knew that Mr. Fielding was
half-way to America, and his daughter in Russia. Some friends of mine
were curious to know who your guests could be."

Pelham raised his head.

"You lied to me then!" he exclaimed.

"I had as much right to lie to you," Spencer answered calmly, "as you
had to ask me questions. I had----"

He stopped short in the middle of his sentence. The faces of the three
men were a study in varying expressions. From some other part of the
house there came to them the sound of a woman's sudden cry of
terror--the cry of a woman who had awakened suddenly to look into the
face of death. Duncombe's uplifted glass fell with a crash upon the
table. The red wine trickled across the table-cloth.

CHAPTER XXII

LORD RUNTON IS SUSPICIOUS

Duncombe was out of the room in a very few seconds. The others hesitated
for a moment whether to follow him or not. Spencer was the first to rise
to his feet and moved towards the door. Lord Runton and Pelham followed
a moment or two later. Outside in the hall the house was perfectly
silent.

Duncombe reached the library door just in time to find himse