, she would have set him at
defiance. All she could do now was to appeal to his mercy.

"Make some allowance for me," she said. "I have been terribly upset.
What has become of my courage? What has broken me down in this way?
Spare me, sir."

He refused to listen. "This vile attempt to practice on your fears may
be repeated," he reminded her. "More cruel advantage may be taken of the
nervous derangement from which you are suffering in the climate of this
place. You little know me, if you think I will allow that to go on."

She made a last effort to plead with him. "Oh sir, is this behaving
like the good kind man I thought you were? You say you are Miss Emily's
friend? Don't press me--for Miss Emily's sake!"

"Emily!" Alban exclaimed. "Is _she_ concerned in this?"

There was a change to tenderness in his voice, which persuaded Mrs.
Ellmother that she had found her way to the weak side of him. Her one
effort now was to strengthen the impression which she believed herself
to have produced. "Miss Emily _is_ concerned in it," she confessed.

"In what way?"

"Never mind in what way."

"But I do mind."

"I tell you, sir, Miss Emily must never know it to her dying day!"

The first suspicion of the truth crossed Alban's mind.

"I understand you at last," he said. "What Miss Emily must never
know--is what Miss de Sor wanted you to tell her. Oh, it's useless to
contradict me! Her motive in trying to frighten you is as plain to me
now as if she had confessed it. Are you sure you didn't betray yourself,
when she showed the image of wax?"

"I should have died first!" The reply had hardly escaped her before she
regretted it. "What makes you want to be so sure about it?" she said.
"It looks as if you knew--"

"I do know."

"What!"

The kindest thing that he could do now was to speak out. "Your secret is
no secret to _me_," he said.

Rage and fear shook her together. For the moment she was like the Mrs.
Ellmother of former days. "You lie!" she cried.

"I speak the truth."

"I won't believe you! I daren't believe you!"

"Listen to me. In Emily's interests, listen to me. I have read of the
murder at Zeeland--"

"That's nothing! The man was a namesake of her father."

"The man was her father himself. Keep your seat! There is nothing to be
alarmed about. I know that Emily is ignorant of the horrid death that
her father died. I know that you and your late mistress have kept the
discovery from her to this day. I kno