ched the head of the
winding stairs.

Juliet gave place to him without a word. They descended rapidly.

At the foot the door stood open to the terrace. They came again into the
blazing sunshine, and here Juliet paused and looked back at Saltash.

He came to her side. "Don't look so alarmed! It's probably only the heat.
Do you know the way to the library? Through that conservatory over there
is the shortest cut. I suppose I may come with you? I may be of use."

"Of course!" said Juliet. "Thank you very much."

Dick barely glanced over his shoulder. He was already on his way.

They entered the Castle again by the conservatory that Saltash had
indicated. It was a mass of flowers, but the public were evidently not
admitted here, for it was empty. In the centre a nymph hung over a
marble basin under a tinkling fountain. They passed quickly by to an
open glass door that led into the house. Here Dick stopped and drew
back, looking at Juliet.

"I will wait here," he said.

She nodded and went swiftly past him into the room.

It was a dark apartment, book-lined, chill of atmosphere, with heavy,
ancient furniture, and a sense of solitude more suggestive of some
monastic dwelling than any ordinary habitation. The floor was of polished
oak that shone with a sombre lustre.

Juliet paused for a moment involuntarily upon entering. It was as if a
sinister hand had been laid upon her, arresting her. The gloom blinded
her after the hot radiance outside. Then a voice--Fielding's voice--spoke
to her, and she went forward gropingly.

He met her, took her urgently by the shoulder. "Thank heaven, you're here
at last!" he said.

Looking at him, she saw him as a man suddenly stricken with age. His face
was grey. He led her to a settee by the high oak fireplace, and
there--white, inanimate as a waxen figure--she found Vera Fielding.

Fear pierced her, sharp as the thrust of a knife. She freed herself from
Fielding's grip, and knelt beside the silent form. For many awful seconds
she watched and listened, not breathing.

"Is she gone?" asked Fielding in a hoarse whisper at last.

She looked up at him. "Get brandy--hot bottles--quick! Send
Dick--he's in the conservatory. No, stay! Send Saltash! He's there
too. He'll know where to find things. Tell Dick to come here! Have
you sent for a doctor?"

"There's been no one to send," he answered frantically. "Some man helped
to bring her in here, but she didn't faint till after we got in