ittle cavalcade had taken its dismissal; meanwhile those
within the room of that house of discord sat silent as dead people,
thinking back over the doings of seventeen years ago, and of a dead man
who had betrayed an innocent woman. It was an unpleasant thought at
best. They were glad when Cleek came back into the room, closed the
door, and took his seat among them again. His pleasant voice dispelled
the repellent weavings of their own brains.

"And now," said he, "to continue with our story. It is nearly done,
but there are points which I know each one of you would like to have
cleared up before I take my leave. What's that, Lady Paula? How did I
come to suspect your brother in the first place? Ah, that involves a
long story with which I will not bore you, for you have had enough
already of this distressing affair, I'm sure. Only this: That I happened
to go up into your boudoir yesterday, when you were making your way up
the Great Free Road"--he paused a moment as she coloured, and gave a
significant smile. "You see, I know more than I tell, eh? Well, I
discovered a note screwed up on the floor, and signed 'A. M.' Antoni
Matei, we now know it was. Once I suspected Captain Macdonald--simply
because the footprints outside of the window of the library were made
by his hunting-boots--discovered afterward by my man, mud-caked and
hidden in some shrubs near Tavish's cottage. Which leads me, Miss
Duggan, to that very particular point of the size of the gentleman's
boots. You remember? I won't call that incident to your mind further.
Only--you were a little mistaken, that's all. But let that pass. Every
woman acts upon the dictates of her own heart, and if those dictates are
a trifle mistaken--yes, that was how I found out, Lady Paula. After
seeing Captain Macdonald's handwriting I knew that he had _not_ written
that note. A further investigation upon the part of my lad Dollops and
myself last night led to the elucidation of who it was who _had_ written
it. Your brother himself disclosed his relation to you last night, after
we had our talk in the village lock-up. After that, the thing was as
easy as A B C.

"I beg your pardon, Miss Duggan? And where exactly did Captain Macdonald
come in! Why, when one meets a man running agitatedly away from the
particular part of the Castle where the crime had taken place--and just
_after_ it--one is inclined to be a little suspicious of that man. It is
only natural. Though, thank Heaven, m