," he said, "that the two men dismounted."

Then a few yards farther on:

"Alan came round from the door there, and they fought here. Alan forced
the stranger on to the turf. When he was stabbed he fell here."

He pointed to a spot where the road commenced to turn to the left to clear
the house. Brett watched him narrowly. The young man was describing his
dream, not the actual murder. The vision was far more real to him.

"It was just such a day as this," he continued. "It might have been almost
this hour. The library windows--"

He ceased and looked fixedly towards the house. Brett, too, gazed in
silence. They saw a small, pale-faced, exceedingly handsome Italian--a
young man, with coal-black eyes and a mass of shining black hair--scowling
at them from within the library.

A black velvet coat and a brilliant tie were the only bizarre features of
his costume. They served sufficiently to enhance his foreign appearance.
Such a man would be correctly placed in the marble frame of a Neapolitan
villa; here he was unusual, _outre_, "un-English," as Brett put it.

But he was evidently master. He flung open the window, and said, with some
degree of hauteur:

"Whom do you wish to see? Can I be of any assistance?"

His accent was strongly marked, but his words were well chosen and civil
enough, had his tone accorded with their sense. As it was, he might be
deemed rude.

Brett advanced.

"Are you Signor Capella?" he inquired.

"Mr. Capella. Yes."

"Then you can, indeed, be of much assistance. This gentleman is Mrs.
Capella's cousin, Mr. David Hume-Frazer."

"Corpo di Baccho!"

The Italian was completely taken by surprise. His eyebrows suddenly stood
out in a ridge. His sallow skin could not become more pallid; to show
emotion he flushed a swarthy red. Beyond the involuntary exclamation in
his own language, he could not find words.

"Yes," explained the smiling Brett, "he is a near relative of yours by
marriage. We were told by the lodge-keeper that Mrs. Capella was
indisposed, but under the circumstances we felt assured that she would
receive her cousin--unless, that is, she is seriously ill."

"It is an unexpected pleasure, this visit."

Capella replied to the barrister, but looked at Hume. He had an unpleasant
habit of parting his lips closely to his teeth, like the silent snarl of a
dog.

"Undoubtedly. We both apologise for not having prepared you."

Brett's smooth, even voice seemed to exasperate the o