all
caught?"

Nibet passed a quick hand through Valgrand's pockets; there was no
note-book there. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Besides, what about it?" he growled. "We brought Gurn here, didn't we?
Well, we've got to take Gurn back again. That's all I know. Come on!"

Beaten down by the drowsiness that was quite irresistible, and worn out
by his violent but futile efforts to resist the warders, Valgrand was
half dragged, half carried out by the two men, his head drooping on his
chest, his consciousness failing. But still as they were getting him
down the stairs his voice could be heard in the half-dark room above,
bleating more weakly and at longer intervals:

"I am not Gurn! I am not Gurn!"

Once more silence reigned in the room. After the three men had gone,
Lady Beltham rose to her feet, tottered to the window, and stood there
listening. She heard their footsteps crossing the street and stopping by
the door into the prison. She waited for a few minutes to make sure that
they had escaped unnoticed from their amazing adventure, then turned
again to the sofa, struggled to unfasten the collar of her dress to get
more air, drew a few deep sighs, and swooned.

The door opposite the staircase opened slowly, and noiselessly Gurn
emerged from the darkness and went towards Lady Beltham. The murderer
flung himself at her feet, covered her face with kisses, and pressed her
hands in his.

"Maud!" he called. "Maud!"

She did not answer and he hunted about the room for something to revive
her. Presently, however, she recovered consciousness unaided and uttered
a faint sigh. Her lover hurried to her.

"Oh, Gurn," she murmured, laying her white hand on the wretch's neck:
"it's you, dear! Come close to me, and hold me in your arms! It was too
much for me! I almost broke down and told everything! I could have borne
no more. Oh, what an appalling time!" She sat up sharply, her face drawn
with terror. "Listen: I can hear him still!"

"Try not to think about it," Gurn whispered, caressing her.

"Did you hear him, how he kept on saying 'I am not Gurn! I am not Gurn!'
Oh, heaven grant they may not find that out!"

Gurn himself was shaken by the horror of the plot he had contrived with
his mistress to effect this substitution of another for himself; it
surpassed in ghastliness anything that had gone before, and he had not
dared to give the least hint of it to Nibet.

"The warders were well paid," he said to reassure her now.