E

VIII. THE GREAT SURPRISE

IX. THE GAME OF BLUFF

BOOK II. THE HOUSE WITH THE TWISTED CHIMNEY

I. THE SHELL-SHOCK MAN

II. THE ADVERTISEMENT

III. THE LETTER WITH THE PURPLE SEAL

IV. THE TANGLED WEB

V. THE KNITTING WOMAN OF DUN MOAT

VI. THE LIGHTNING STROKE

VII. THE RED BAIZE DOOR

VIII. "WHEN IN DOUBT, PLAY A TRUMP"

IX. THE RAT TRAP

BOOK III. THE DARK VEIL

I. THE GIRL WITH THE LETTER

II. THE HERMIT

III. THE CHAIR AT THE SAVOY

IV. THE SPIRIT OF JUNE

V. THE BARGAIN

VI. THE LAST SEANCE

BOOK IV. THE MYSTERY OF MRS. BRANDRETH

I. THE MAN IN THE CUSHIONED CHAIR

II. MRS. BRANDRETH

III. THE CONDITION SHE MADE

IV. THE OLD LOVE STORY

V. THE MAN WITH THE BRILLIANT EYES

VI. THE PICTURES

VII. SIR BEVERLEY'S IMPRESSIONS

VIII. WHILE WE WAITED

IX. THE GOOD NEWS

X. THE CLIMAX

XI. WHAT GABY TOLD

XII. THE WOMAN IN THE THEATRE

XIII. MRS. BRANDRETH'S STORY

THE BRIGHTENER

BOOK I

THE YACHT

CHAPTER I

DOWN AND OUT

"I wonder who will tell her," I heard somebody say, just outside the
arbour.

The somebody was a woman; and the somebody else who answered was a man.
"Glad it won't be me!" he replied, ungrammatically.

I didn't know who these somebodies were, and I didn't much care. For the
first instant the one thing I did care about was, that they should
remain outside my arbour, instead of finding their way in. Then, the
next words waked my interest. They sounded mysterious, and I loved
mysteries--_then_.

"It's an awful thing to happen--a double blow, in the same moment!"
exclaimed the woman.

They had come to a standstill, close to the arbour; but there was hope
that they mightn't discover it, because it wasn't an ordinary arbour. It
was really a deep, sweet-scented hollow scooped out of an immense _arbor
vitae_ tree, camouflaged to look like its sister trees in a group beside
the path. The hollow contained an old marble seat, on which I was
sitting, but the low entrance could only be reached by one who knew of
its existence, passing between those other trees.

I felt suddenly rather curious about the person struck by a "double
blow," for a "fellow feeling makes one wondrous kind"; and at that
moment I was a sort of modern, female Damocles myself. In f