elf to take a message to a servant at a house from which
she had been expelled by the owner, who had been keeping her. How would
she have felt if she had run into Sir Horace? It is true that Sir Horace
left for Scotland the day before, but it is improbable that the girl who
had quarrelled with Sir Horace a fortnight before knew the exact date on
which he intended to leave. And how did Hill behave when he got the
message? According to his story, he consented to go and see Birchill
under threat of exposure, and he consented to become an accomplice in the
burglary for the same reason. Sir Horace knew all about Hill's past, so
why should he fear a threat of exposure?"

"Hill explained that," interposed Rolfe. "He pointed out that, though Sir
Horace knew his past, he couldn't afford to have any scandal about it."

"Quite so. But could Birchill afford to threaten a man who was under the
protection of Sir Horace Fewbanks? Would Birchill pit himself against Sir
Horace? I think that Sir Horace, knowing the law pretty thoroughly, would
soon have found a way to deal with Birchill. If Hill was threatened by
Birchill, his first impulse, knowing what a powerful protector he had in
Sir Horace Fewbanks, would have been to go to him and seek his protection
against this dangerous old associate of his convict days. According to
Hill's own story, he was something in the nature of a confidential
servant, trusted to some extent with the secrets of Sir Horace's double
life. What more likely than such a man, threatened as he describes,
should turn to his master who had shielded him and trusted him?"

"I confess that is a point which never struck me," said Rolfe
thoughtfully.

"Now, let us go on to the meeting between Hill and Birchill," continued
Crewe. "This girl Fanning, discarded by Sir Horace, because he'd
discovered she was playing him false with Birchill, is made the
ostensible reason for Birchill's wishing to commit a burglary at
Riversbrook, because Birchill wants, as he says, to get even with Sir
Horace Fewbanks. Is it likely that Birchill would confide his desire for
revenge so frankly to Sir Horace's confidential servant, the trusted
custodian of his master's valuables, who could rely on his master's
protection--the protection of a highly-placed man of whom Birchill stood
admittedly in fear, and whom he knew, according to Hill's story, was
unassailable from his slander? What had Hill to fear, from the threats of
a man like Birchi