have ever since wondered what
could have been the private matter upon which he so particularly desired
to see me. He felt death creeping upon him, or--or else he knew himself
to be a doomed man--or he would never have penned me that note."

"The letter in question was not mentioned at the inquest?"

"No. My stepfather urged me to regard the affair as a strict secret. He
feared a scandal because I had gone to Harry's rooms."

"You have no idea, then, what was the nature of the communication which
the captain wished to make to you?" asked the novelist.

"Not the slightest," replied the girl, yet with some hesitation. "It is
all a mystery--a mystery which has ever haunted me--a mystery which
haunts me now!"

They had halted, and were standing together beneath a great oak, already
partially bare of leaves. He looked into her beautiful face, sweet and
full of purity as a child's. Then, in a low, intense voice, he said:
"Cannot you be quite frank with me, Enid--cannot you give me more minute
details of the sad affair? Captain Bellairs was in his usual health that
day when he left you at Salisbury, was he not?"

"Oh, yes. I drove him to the station in our car."

"Have you any idea why your stepfather sent him up to London?"

"Not exactly, except that at breakfast he said to my mother that he must
send Bellairs up to London. That was all."

"And at his rooms, whom did you find?"

"Barker, his man," she replied. "The story he told me was a curious one,
namely, that his master had arrived from Salisbury at two o'clock, and
at half-past two had sent him out upon a message down to Richmond. On his
return, a little after five, he found his master absent, but the place
smelt strongly of perfume, which seemed to point to the fact that the
captain had had a lady visitor."

"He had no actual proof of that?" exclaimed Fetherston, interrupting.

"I think not. He surmised it from the fact that his master disliked
scent, even in his toilet soap. Again, upon the table in the hall
Barker's quick eye noticed a small white feather; this he showed me, and
it was evidently from a feather boa. In the fire-grate a letter had been
burnt. These two facts had aroused the man-servant's curiosity."

"What time did the captain return?"

"Almost immediately. He changed into his dinner jacket, and went forth
again, saying that he intended to dine at the Naval and Military Club,
and return to his rooms in time to change and catch the eleven-f