Jezebel, and half rose as though he would strike me. But I was first.
There was a dagger on the mantelpiece. For a moment I saw red. When I
was again capable of thought I saw Goldenburg lying on the couch,
motionless, and I knew what I had done.

"I struggled to get a grip on myself. At any moment Grell might return.
I could not be sure of what he might do, and my whole idea was to save
myself at any cost. Goldenburg had fallen back on the couch. I had taken
two steps to the door when there was a sound outside. I drew back behind
a curtain, expecting Grell. Instead of that a woman came in. She was
heavily veiled, and though I did not know her then I was positive it was
Lady Eileen Meredith, for Goldenburg had hinted at some such dramatic
surprise if Grell did not come to terms. I saw her stoop over the
murdered man, and then Grell opened the door. He stared for a second,
and then closed the door again just as Lady Eileen looked up.

"To him it must have appeared that she had killed the man. I expected
her to scream, but she did nothing of the sort. She went out, closing
the door softly. I followed her within a minute or so, for I began to
have an idea how things might be turned to my advantage. I went straight
back to my hotel, and made arrangements to secure a sort of alibi. But I
wanted to know how things were going. I had told Grell that if it became
necessary to write me under cover, he might do so at the _poste
restante_, Folkestone. There it was I heard before I returned to London.
He declared that he had killed Goldenburg, a statement I had the best of
reasons for knowing was false. But it left me with an easier mind. I had
no wish that he should be questioned by the police, for that might have
given rise to questions as to why I was at the house, and how I left.

"That was why I helped him by every means in my power. I think now it
would have been perfectly easy for me to have disappeared without
raising more than a fleeting suspicion in any one's mind. But we cannot
foresee everything. And I believed that my safety lay in keeping Grell
at liberty. What he thought of my motives for helping him, I do not
know--he may have believed them to be gratitude, or something else.
Anyway, he trusted me, and to make sure, I more than once hinted that I
had an idea that Lady Eileen Meredith was the guilty person.

"It was I who supplied funds for the most part, and it was only when my
resources threatened to give out, th