e you would not do such a thing as to listen, Mary?' queried
Mr. Pepys with a smile.

"'No, sir,' said Mary with a bland smile, 'I didn't catch what the
gentlemen said, but one of them spoke so loud I thought they must be
quarrelling.'

"'Mr. Skinner was the only person in possession of a latch-key, I
presume. No one else could have come in without ringing at the door?'

"'Oh no, sir.'

"That was all. So far, you see, the case was progressing splendidly for
the Crown against the prisoner. The contention, of course, was that
Skinner had met Mr. Morton, brought him home with him, assaulted,
drugged, then gagged and bound him, and finally robbed him of whatever
money he had in his possession, which, according to certain affidavits
which presently would be placed before the magistrate, amounted to
L10,000 in notes.

"But in all this there still remained the great element of mystery for
which the public and the magistrate would demand an explanation: namely,
what were the relationships between Mr. Morton and Skinner, which had
induced the former to refuse the prosecution of the man who had not only
robbed him, but had so nearly succeeded in leaving him to die a terrible
and lingering death?

"Mr. Morton was too ill as yet to appear in person. Dr. Mellish had
absolutely forbidden his patient to undergo the fatigue and excitement
of giving evidence himself in court that day. But his depositions had
been taken at his bedside, were sworn to by him, and were now placed
before the magistrate by the prosecuting counsel, and the facts they
revealed were certainly as remarkable as they were brief and
enigmatical.

"As they were read by Mr. Pepys, an awed and expectant hush seemed to
descend over the large crowd gathered there, and all necks were strained
eagerly forward to catch a glimpse of a tall, elegant woman, faultlessly
dressed and wearing exquisite jewellery, but whose handsome face wore,
as the prosecuting counsel read her husband's deposition, a more and
more ashen hue.

"'This, your Honour, is the statement made upon oath by Mr. Francis
Morton,' commenced Mr. Pepys in that loud, sonorous voice of his which
sounds so impressive in a crowded and hushed court. '"I was obliged, for
certain reasons which I refuse to disclose, to make a payment of a large
sum of money to a man whom I did not know and have never seen. It was in
a matter of which my wife was cognisant and which had entirely to do
with her own affairs. I