a thief, and Eric
rushed at him like a madman, and then I fainted. When I recovered I
found Lady Betty crying over me and Leah rubbing my hands. No one else
was there. Eric had dashed up to his room, and Giles and Etta were in
the drawing-room. I told Leah to go out of my sight, for I hated her; and
I felt I did hate her. And when she left us alone I managed, with Lady
Betty's help, to crawl up to Eric's room. But, though we heard him raging
about it, he would not admit us. So I went and lay down on my bed and
slept from sheer grief and exhaustion.

'When I woke from that stupor,--for it was more stupor than sleep,--it
was late in the afternoon. I shall always believe the wine Leah gave me
was drugged. How I wish I had dashed the glass away from my lips! But I
was weak, and she had compelled me to drink it.

'Lady Betty was still sitting by me. She seemed half frightened by my
long sleep. She said Eric had come in and had kissed me, but very
lightly, so as not to disturb me. And she thought there were tears
in his eyes as he went out. Ursula, I have never seen him since. He
left the house almost immediately afterwards, but no one saw him go. By
some strange oversight Giles's telegram to the London Bank to stop the
cheque did not reach them in time. And yet Etta went herself to the
telegraph-office. As you may have perhaps heard, a tall fair young man,
with a light moustache, cashed the cheque early in the afternoon. Yes, I
know, Ursula, the circumstantial evidence is rather strong just here. I
am quite aware that it was possible for Eric after leaving our house to
be in London at the time mentioned, but no one can prove that it was
Eric.

'Edgar Brown is tall and fair, and there are plenty of young men
answering to that description; and I maintain, and shall maintain to my
dying day,--and I am sure Mr. Cunliffe agrees with me,--that it was not
Eric who presented that cheque. The clerk told Giles that the young man
had a scar across his cheek and a slight cut, though he was decidedly
good-looking. But Giles refused to believe this. He says the clerk made
a mistake about the last.

'The next morning I received a letter from Eric, written at the Ship
Hotel, Brighton, containing the exact particulars that I have given, and
reiterating in the most solemn way that he was perfectly innocent of the
shameful crime laid to his charge.

'"You will believe me, Gladys, I know," he went on. "You will not let my
enemies blacken