AU REVOIR ALL
MY LOVE. ARTHUR.

CHAPTER XXXIX

Three days later Esther sat by the window in the hotel sitting-room of
the Cliffords' suite, waiting for Roger. She had made rapid progress
during the past twenty-four hours, but she still felt rather wan and
tremulous, as though she had been through a long illness. Moreover she
now knew all there was to know about the affair in which she had played
a leading part. She had insisted on being told what had happened to
Lady Clifford, and in spite of the inevitable shock to her nerves she
had since felt steadier. She had now beside her all the papers
containing accounts of the death of the Frenchwoman and the
disappearance of Dr. Sartorius, both well-known figures in Cannes, and
she had read with the keenest interest all the diverse theories which
strove to connect the two events. Up till now not one report had hit
upon the true facts of the case; all the stories were wide of the mark,
and the general impression given to the public was that in some
mysterious way the doctor was responsible for his employer's
catastrophic end. There was one garbled account which mentioned her
own name--gleaned, most likely, from one of the French servants at the
villa--but so far Roger, in his determination to prevent the Press from
persecuting her, had kept her well out of it.

It seemed almost unbelievable that after three whole days so little of
the actual affair should be known. The sensation caused was a big one,
but it remained in the nature of an enigma. Rumour in several quarters
had it that Lady Clifford had simply committed suicide because of the
desertion of her lover. The result of the inquest was not yet known.
and the fact that the death was due to an accident was difficult for
most people to grasp.

Esther, however, knew how the awful thing had happened, and amid her
complex emotions she was conscious of a sort of admiration for the
Frenchwoman's courage in setting out as she must have done, in the
darkness and rain, on her perilous mission--a mission she had all but
accomplished, too, for it had now been established that the bottle upon
the shelf in Roger's bathroom contained pure Evian water, innocent of
contamination. Therese had therefore effected the exchange and was on
her return journey when she lost her balance.

Looking out upon the Croisette and the harbour beyond, where the myriad
lights of yachts began to twinkle in the violet dusk, Esther drew