aid Anstice rather
bitterly. "But since you know the facts of the case, and yet are good
enough to welcome me to your house, I gather this wretched letter
carried no weight with you, Sir Richard. And if that is so, why not tear
it up, and make an end of the thing?"

"Wait a moment, Anstice. As you say, I know the facts of the case and
even if I were ignorant of them this contemptible _canard_"--he flicked
the paper angrily--"wouldn't rouse my curiosity to the extent of setting
me searching for some crime in your past." He smiled, but the smile cost
him an effort. "But you see the mischief may not rest here. It is quite
possible other people may have been--victimized--by this morning's
post."

"By Jove, I hadn't thought of that." Anstice stood biting his lip and
staring thoughtfully ahead of him; and the old man watched the thin,
fine-drawn face with a regard which was full of anxiety. "Naturally a
story of this sort is not calculated to enhance one's popularity; and
one's patients might quite well look askance at a doctor who was reputed
to be a murderer!"

He paused; then threw back his head impetuously.

"After all, if they are weak-minded enough to believe an anonymous
statement, they aren't worth bothering with. As it is, I've been
thinking for some time that I've had enough of general practice. I never
intended to go in for it, you know; and if I had a quiet year or two for
research----"

He broke off suddenly, for Sir Richard had raised his hand almost
entreatingly.

"Anstice, don't speak of giving up your practice here--not at this
juncture, anyway. You see this vile story may spread; and to quit
Littlefield now would look almost like"--he hesitated--"like cowardice."

For a second Anstice stared at him, a flash of anger on his brow. Then,
as though dismayed by the effect of his words, Sir Richard spoke again.

"Besides, there is another aspect of the matter which has evidently not
yet struck you. It is very natural for you to look on this letter as a
loathsome, but quite unimportant, act of spite, on the part of some
secret enemy; and I understand your desire to assume that it does not
matter in the least. But"--his eyes sought the younger man's face
anxiously--"there is another person in this neighbourhood who might be
affected by a fresh flood of anonymous communications. You know to whom
I refer?"

Suddenly Anstice saw, with a most unwelcome clarity of vision, what Sir
Richard intended to convey;