owder-blackened face; and then to the homeward voyage on the mighty
steamer that bore them across the blue sea, towards the dull white
cliffs of England.

Gurn's thoughts followed hers.

"Out there! Yes; and then on the vast ocean, on the ship homeward bound!
The quiet and peace of it all! And our meetings every day: our long,
long talks, and longer silences--in the clear starlight of those
tropical skies! We were learning to know each other----"

"We were learning to love each other," she said. "And then--London, and
Paris, and all the fever of life threatening our love. But that is the
strongest thing in the world: and--do you remember? Oh, the ecstasy of
it all! But, do you remember too what you did for me--through
me--thirteen months ago?"

She had risen, and with white lips and haggard eyes held Gurn's hands
within her own in an even tighter grip. Emotion choked her further
utterance.

"Yes, I remember," Gurn went on slowly: "it was in our little room in
the rue Levert, and I was on my knees beside you when the door opened
quietly, and there stood Lord Beltham, mad with rage and jealousy!"

"I don't know what happened then," Lady Beltham whispered in a hopeless
undertone, drooping her head again.

"I do," muttered Gurn. "His eyes sought you, and a pistol was pointed at
your heart! He would have fired, but I sprang and struck him down! And
then I strangled him!"

Lady Beltham's eyes were fixed on the man's hands, that she still held
between her own.

"And I saw the muscles in these hands swell up beneath the skin as they
tightened on his throat!"

"I killed him!" groaned the man.

But Lady Beltham, swept by a surge of passion, sprang up and sought his
lips.

"Oh, Gurn!" she sobbed--"my darling!"

* * * * *

"Listen," said Gurn harshly, after a pause of anxious silence. "I had to
see you to-night, for who knows if to-morrow----" Lady Beltham shrank at
the words, but Gurn went on unheeding. "The police are after me. Of
course I have made myself almost unrecognisable, but twice just lately I
have been very nearly caught."

"Do you think the police have any accurate idea of what happened?" Lady
Beltham asked abruptly.

"No," said Gurn after a moment's hesitation. "They think I killed him
with the mallet. They have not found out that I had to strangle him. As
far as I know, they found no marks of my hands on his throat. At all
events, they could not have been clear, fo