c, and his equally morbid hankering after information concerning
Edward Jacobs, the man who had ruined him.

All these letters, which were directed in a feigned handwriting, seemed
sane and sensible enough, although they showed signs of eccentricity of
character.

The next batch were written after the disappearance of Edward Jacobs,
and in them the signs of morbid eccentricity were more apparent. The
writer owned to having "put Jacobs out of the way," upbraided Dudley for
interfering on behalf of such a wretch, and accused him of ingratitude
in refusing to leave England with his father, who had done mankind in
general and him in particular a service in killing a monster. The writer
went on to accuse Dudley of siding with his father's enemies, of wishing
to have him shut up, and told him that he should never succeed.

Some of these letters were directed to The Beeches, and some to Dudley's
chambers, showing an intimate knowledge of his whereabouts.

The latest letters were wilder, more bitter, showing how insanity which
had broken out into violence before was increasing in intensity, and how
the feelings of regard which he had seemed to entertain for his son had
given place to strong resentment against him.

After the reading of these letters, it was plain that the crime of
murder which Mrs. Jacobs had laid to Dudley's charge had been really the
work of his father; and Mrs. Jacobs herself, on being made acquainted
with these facts, agreed with this conclusion.

There remained only the question of Dudley's complicity in the crime to
be considered, and that was a matter which could be left until the sick
man's recovery.

It was on the first day of Dudley's appearance in the family circle that
the subject was broached, clumsily enough, by Mr. Wedmore, who was dying
to know a great deal more than anybody had been willing to tell him.

Dudley had come into the drawing-room, which had been well warmed for
the occasion with a roaring fire, and it was here that they found him
after luncheon, with the professional nurse beside him.

The girls greeted him rather shyly, especially Doreen, but Mrs. Wedmore
was motherly and gentle. Mr. Wedmore attacked him at once.

"I can't understand, Dudley, why you kept it all so dark. Couldn't you
see for yourself that it was better for your father to be under
restraint, as well as safer for other people?"

Mrs. Wedmore tried to interpose and to change the conversation to
another sub