le do not commit so
desperate an act as murder without some powerful motive, either
of gain or revenge, behind it, and from what I have heard, neither
the uncle nor the aunt can have anything to win by injuring his
little lordship."

"Can they not?" she answered, with a despairing gesture. "How little
you know! Mrs. Carruthers is an ambitious woman, Mr. Headland,
and, like all women of the class from which she was recruited, she
aspires to a title. She was formerly an actress. The Honourable
Felix married and took her from the theatre. It is abominable that
a person of that type should be foisted upon society and brought
into contact with her betters."

"Oho! that's where the shoe pinches, is it?" thought Cleek; but aloud
he merely said: "The day has long passed, your ladyship, when the
followers of Thespis have to apologize for their existence. There are
many ladies of the stage in these times whose lives are exemplary and
whose names call forth nothing but respect and admiration; and so
long as this particular lady bore an unblemished reputation----Did
she?"

"Oh, yes. There was never a word against her in that respect.
Felix would never have married her if there had been. But I believe
in persons of that class remaining in their own circle, and not
intruding themselves into others to which they were not _born_. She
is an ambitious woman, as I have told you. She aspires to a title
as _well_ as to riches, and if little Lord Strathmere should die,
her husband would inherit both. Surely that is 'motive' enough for
a woman of that type. As for her husband----"

"There, I am afraid, your suspicion confounds itself, your ladyship,"
interrupted Cleek. "I am told that the Honourable Mr. Carruthers
is extremely fond of the boy; besides which, being rich in his own
right, he has no reason to covet the riches of his brother's baby
son."

"Pardon me: '_was_ rich' is the proper expression, not 'is,' Mr.
Headland. The failure, a fortnight or so ago, of the West Coast
Diamond Mining Company, in which the greater part of his fortune
was invested and of which he was the chairman, has sadly crippled his
resources, and he has now nothing but the income from his nephew's
estate to live upon."

"Hum-m-m! Ah! Just so!" said Cleek, pinching his chin. "Now I
recollect what made the name seem familiar, Mr. Narkom. I remember
reading of the failure, and of the small hope that was held out of
anything being saved from the wreckage. St