e yard, and found there Ruth's mare and Wingrave's
covert hack, from which he had not changed when they had left the field.
Both animals had evidently been ridden hard, and there was something
ominous in the smile with which the head groom told him that Lady Ruth
and Wingrave were in the house.

"The two men had separate dens. Wingrave's was much the better
furnished, as he was a young man of considerable taste, and he had also
fitted it with sporting trophies collected from many countries. This
room was at the back of the house, and Lumley deliberately crossed the
lawn and looked in at the window."

Lovell paused for a moment or two to relight his pipe.

"Remember," he continued, "that I have to put this story together,
partly from facts which came to my knowledge afterwards, and partly from
reasonable deductions. I may say at once that I do not know what Lumley
saw when he played the spy. The housekeeper had just taken tea in, and
it is possible that Wingrave may have been holding his guest's hand,
or that something in their faces or attitude convinced him that his
jealousy was well founded. Anyhow, it is certain that Lumley was half
beside himself with rage when he strode away from that window. Then in
the avenue he must have heard the soft patter of hounds coming along the
lane, or perhaps seen the pink coats of the huntsmen through the hedge.
This much is certain. He hurried down the drive, and returned with
Ruth's husband."

Lovell took another drink. No one spoke. No one even made a remark. The
little circle of listeners had caught something of his own gravity. The
story was an ordinary one enough, but something in Lovell's manner
of telling it seemed somehow to bring into their consciousness the
apprehension of the tangled web of passions which burned underneath its
sordid details.

"Ruth's husband--Sir William I will call him--stood side by side with
Lumley before the window. What they saw I cannot tell you. They entered
the room. The true story of what happened there I doubt if anyone will
ever know. The evidence of servants spoke of raised voices and the sound
of a heavy fall. When they were summoned, Sir William lay on the floor
unconscious. Lady Ruth had fainted; Lumley and Wingrave were both
bending over the former. On the floor were fragments of paper, which
were afterwards put together, and found to be the remains of a check for
a large amount, payable to Lady Ruth, and signed by Wingrave.

"The s