d I hesitated so to alarm
her, unless the man down there was already commencing to use his power
to torment her. If she would only go out and leave me to give Wildred a
surprise I would have been thankful; but as I could not hope for her to
do that, I determined to know what her companion was saying to her,
which had caused her to exclaim in astonishment or perhaps in fear.

I took out my pocket-knife, and with great care to avoid all noise I
began to loosen one of the small diamond-shaped panes from its leaden
setting. As soon as it was released at one end I slipped the point of
the knife underneath and so raised it that there might be no danger of
its falling downward and startling those within the room.

CHAPTER XXX

Conclusion

I bent my ear over the tiny aperture. It made all the difference in the
world. I could now hear every word that Wildred was saying.

"I have always, and with some reason, I think," was the first sentence
that I caught, "considered myself a man of more than average mental
ability. I am usually prepared for any traps which can possibly be
sprung for me; but in this instance I find I have made my one mistake. I
believed in a woman's devotion. Probably it serves me right to have been
deceived. Since you have found it all out through her, I may as well
admit to you that it is true. She did live here. Nobody suspected her
presence, or even her existence. She was very useful to me in many ways.
If she had proved troublesome I could have rid myself of her at any
time, and she knew it. Instead of doing what I ought to have done, I
believed that she was willing to go away without betraying me, and I let
her go free with a present of a thousand pounds. She could even have
asked for more when that was gone, and I would not have refused her. I
was a fool ever to marry her, but she was the handsomest woman I had
seen at that time, and as you know I was some years younger, some
degrees more impulsive than I am now. I was still more of a fool not to
have put her out of the way, knowing what she did--but as I remarked,
that was the mistake of a lifetime. She has told you such of my secrets
as she knew, she has shown you certain things in this house which have
very naturally displeased and shocked you. She timed her return very
well--jealous idiot!--but she will pay for what she has done."

"How will she pay?"

I could not see Karine, but I could hear her voice, vibrant with the
fear and horror