usy. Am I to proceed?"

Seton paused, glancing at his audience; and:

"If you please," whispered Rita. "Monte knows and I know--why--she
killed him. But we don't know--"

"The nasty details," said Quentin Gray. "Carry on, Seton. Are you
agreeable, Irvin?"

"I am anxious to know," replied Irvin, "for I believe Sir Lucien
deserved well of me, bad as he was."

Seton clapped his hands, and an Egyptian servant appeared, silently and
mysteriously as is the way of his class.

"Cocktails, Mahmoud!"

The Egyptian disappeared.

"There's just time," declared Margaret, gazing out across the prospect,
"before sunset."

CHAPTER XLIII. THE STORY OF THE CRIME

"You are all aware," Seton continued, "that Sir Lucien Pyne was an
admirer of Mrs. Irvin. God knows, I hold no brief for the man, but this
love of his was the one redeeming feature of a bad life. How and when it
began I don't profess to know, but it became the only pure thing which
he possessed. That he was instrumental in introducing you, Mrs. Irvin,
to the unfortunately prevalent drug habit, you will not deny; but that
he afterwards tried sincerely to redeem you from it I can positively
affirm. In seeking your redemption he found his own, for I know that
he was engaged at the time of his death in extricating himself from the
group. You may say that he had made a fortune, and was satisfied; that
is your view, Gray. I prefer to think that he was anxious to begin a new
life and to make himself more worthy of the respect of those he loved.

"There was one obstacle which proved too great for him--Mrs. Sin.
Although Juan Mareno was the spokesman of the group, Lola Mareno was the
prompter. All Sir Lucien's plans for weaning Mrs. Irvin from the habits
which she had acquired were deliberately and malignantly foiled by this
woman. She endeavored to inveigle Mrs. Irvin into indebtedness to you,
Gray, as you know now. Failing in this, she endeavored to kill her
by depriving her of that which had at the time become practically
indispensable. A venomous jealousy led her to almost suicidal measures.
She risked exposure and ruin in her endeavors to dispose of one whom she
looked upon as a rival.

"During Sir Lucien's several absences from London she was particularly
active, and this brings me to the closing scene of the drama. On the
night that you determined, in desperation, Mrs. Irvin, to see Kazmah
personally, you will recall that Sir Lucien went out to telephone to
him?