end to in town, and I
must write and prepare Mrs. Carstairs for my visit. But I shall
certainly be down shortly, and I hope I may have the pleasure of meeting
you again before very long."

"I hope we may meet soon," said Anstice heartily, and Major Carstairs
escorted his guest to the steps of the Club, where he took a cordial
farewell of him and stood watching the tall figure swing along
Piccadilly with the stride of an athlete.

"So that's the fellow there was all the '_gup_' about." Major Carstairs
had heard the story of Hilda Ryder's death discussed a good many times
during his sojourn in India. "A thoroughly decent chap, I should say,
and it's deuced hard luck on him to go through life with a memory of
that sort rankling in his soul. Ah, well, we all have our private
memories--ghosts which haunt us and will not be laid; and at least there
is no disgrace in that story of his. At the worst it could only be
called a miscalculation--a mistake. But what if my mistake has been a
more grievous one--what if Chloe is innocent and I have misjudged her
cruelly? If that should be so," said Major Carstairs, "then my ghost
will never be laid. The man who shot Hilda Ryder will be forgiven for
his too hasty deed. But for a mistake such as mine there could be no
forgiveness."

And as he turned to re-enter the club his face looked suddenly haggard
and old.

CHAPTER V

The more Anstice pondered over the matter of the anonymous letters, the
more inclined he was to believe that the woman Tochatti was one of the
prime movers, if not the sole participator, in the affair.

Leaving the subject of motive out of the question for the moment, it was
evident that Tochatti, of all the household, would have the most free
access to her mistress' writing-table or bureau; and Anstice knew,
through a chance word, that on the occasion of Mrs. Carstairs' fatal
visit to Brighton, she had been accompanied by her maid.

True, the woman was supposed, by those around her, to be incapable of
writing, even to the extent of signing her name; but, as the export had
pointed out in the course of the interview, it was not unknown for a
person to deny the possession of some faculty, either from a desire to
gain sympathy or from some other and less creditable reason.

The question of motive, however, was a more complicated one. Why should
this woman seek to injure her mistress in the first place, and having
done her an irrevocable wrong--always supp