til the
illumined windows were again hidden from him. He had seen no one, and
heard no sound. A path which skirted the gardens would bring him in a
few minutes to Redgrave's abode; this he found and followed.

The bungalow was built in a corner of the park where previously had
stood a gardener's cottage; round about it grew a few old trees, and on
two sides spread a shrubbery, sheltering the newly-made lawn and
flower-beds. Here it was very dark; Hugh advanced cautiously, stopping
now and then to listen. He reached a point where the front of the house
became visible. A light shone at the door, but there was no movement,
and Hugh could hear only his own hard breathing.

He kept behind the laurels, and made a half-circuit of the house. On
passing to the farther side, he would come within view of those windows
which opened so conveniently, as Mrs. Maskell had said--the windows of
Redgrave's sitting-room, drawing-room, study, or whatever he called it.
To this end it was necessary to quit the cover of the shrubs and cross
a lawn. As he stepped on to the mown grass, his ear caught a sound, the
sound of talking in a subdued tone; it came, he thought, from that side
of the building which he could not yet see. A few quick silent steps,
and this conjecture became a certainty: someone was talking within a
few yards of him, just round the obstructing corner, and he felt sure
the voice was Redgrave's. It paused; another voice made reply, but in
so low a murmur that its accents were not to be recognised. That it was
the voice of a woman the listener had no doubt. Spurred by a choking
anguish, he moved forward. He saw two figures standing in a dim light
from the window-door--a man and a woman; the man bareheaded, his
companion in outdoor clothing. At the same moment he himself was
perceived. He heard a hurried 'Go in!' and at once the woman
disappeared.

Face to face with Redgrave, he looked at the window; but the curtain
which dulled the light from within concealed everything.

'Who was that?'

'Why--Carnaby? What the deuce----?'

'Who was _that_?'

'Who?--what do you mean?'

Carnaby took a step; Redgrave laid an arresting hand upon him. There
needed but this touch. In frenzied wrath, yet with the precision of
trained muscle, Hugh struck out; and Redgrave went down before
him--thudding upon the door of the veranda like one who falls dead.

CHAPTER 13

He forced the window; he rushed into the room, and there befor