man.

There was a man behind her. A brisk step sounded on the parquet, and a
figure brushed past her. It wore the horizon-blue of a French officer,
very smart, with those French riding-boots that show the shape of the
leg, and a handsome fur-lined pelisse. I would have called him a young
man, not more than thirty-five. The face was brown and clean-shaven,
the eyes bright and masterful ... Yet he did not deceive me. I had not
boasted idly to Sir Walter when I said that there was one man alive who
could never again be mistaken by me.

I had my hand on my pistol, as I motioned Mary farther back into the
shadows. For a second I was about to shoot. I had a perfect mark and
could have put a bullet through his brain with utter certitude. I think
if I had been alone I might have fired. Perhaps not. Anyhow now I could
not do it. It seemed like potting at a sitting rabbit. I was obliged,
though he was my worst enemy, to give him a chance, while all the while
my sober senses kept calling me a fool.

I stepped into the light.

'Hullo, Mr Ivery,' I said. 'This is an odd place to meet again!'

In his amazement he fell back a step, while his hungry eyes took in my
face. There was no mistake about the recognition. I saw something I had
seen once before in him, and that was fear. Out went the light and he
sprang for the door.

I fired in the dark, but the shot must have been too high. In the same
instant I heard him slip on the smooth parquet and the tinkle of glass
as the broken window swung open. Hastily I reflected that his car must
be at the moat end of the terrace, and that therefore to reach it he
must pass outside this very room. Seizing the damaged escritoire, I
used it as a ram, and charged the window nearest me. The panes and
shutters went with a crash, for I had driven the thing out of its
rotten frame. The next second I was on the moonlit snow.

I got a shot at him as he went over the terrace, and again I went wide.
I never was at my best with a pistol. Still I reckoned I had got him,
for the car which was waiting below must come back by the moat to reach
the highroad. But I had forgotten the great closed park gates. Somehow
or other they must have been opened, for as soon as the car started it
headed straight for the grand avenue. I tried a couple of long-range
shots after it, and one must have damaged either Ivery or his
chauffeur, for there came back a cry of pain.

I turned in deep chagrin to find Mary beside me