g strenuously, evidently
weighing his chances, estimating the strength of his adversary's
position. Now and again he shot a glance, half probing, half sullen, at
Gifford, who leaned back against the mantelpiece coolly awaiting his
answer. At length he spoke.

"This is a very fine piece of bravado, Mr. Gifford. But I am not such a
fool as it pleases you to think me. It is very good of you to explain to
me my position in this affair; I am, however, quite capable of seeing
that for myself. And you can hardly expect me to look upon your
gratuitous advice as disinterested."

The man was talking to gain time; Gifford shrewdly guessed that. "I
might be pardoned for supposing you do not altogether realize how you
stand," he replied quietly. "But, after all, that is, as you suggest,
your affair."

Henshaw forced a smile. "The point of view is everything," he said in a
preoccupied tone; "and ours, yours and mine, are diametrically opposed."

"The point of view which perhaps ought most to be considered," Gifford
retorted with rising impatience, "is that of the honourable profession to
which we both belong. If you are prepared to face the odium, professional
and social, of an exposure--"

Henshaw interrupted him with a wave of the hand. "You may apply that to
yourself and to your friend, Miss Morriston," he said sharply. "I can
take care of myself, thank you."

Gifford shrugged. "Very well, then. There is no more to be said." He
crossed the room and took up his hat. "I will go and see Major Freeman at
once." At the door he turned, to see with surprise and a certain
satisfaction that Henshaw, although he had risen from his chair, seemed
in no hurry to move. "You are coming with me," he suggested. "It would be
quite in order, I think, for you to be present at my statement--unless
you prefer not."

It seemed clear that the rather foxy Gervase Henshaw had really more than
suspected a studied game of bluff. But now Gifford's attitude tended to
put that out of the question.

"In the circumstances, as your statement will consist mainly of a slander
against me and my dead brother," Henshaw replied sullenly, "I prefer to
keep out of the business for the present. I fancy," he added with an ugly
significance, "that the police will be quite equal to dealing with the
situation without any assistance or intervention from me."

Gifford ignored the covert threat. "Very well, then," he said, throwing
open the door and standing aside for