-and why not, since Paul is
a good doctor, and you have now finished with others?--I will tell you
all I know about your wife."

As she went on I was thinking fast. Poor Rosemary! I was sure that Gaby
had tried to work upon her fears--had promised secrecy if Mrs. Murray
would get Doctor Jennings taken on as Ralston's physician. At first
Rosemary had been inclined to yield. That must have been at the time
when she wired to stop Sir Beverley's visit, if not too late. Then we
had appeared on the scene, saying that it _was_ too late, and urging
that Sir Beverley might offer Ralston a chance of life. At this
Rosemary's love for her husband had triumphed over fears for her own
sake. She had realized that by keeping Sir Beverley away she might be
standing between her husband and life itself. If there were a ray of
hope for him, she determined to help, not hinder, no matter what the
cost.

Once she had refused Mrs. Jennings' request, she had been at the woman's
mercy; but Gaby had waited, expecting the thing that had happened
to-day, and seeing that her best chance for the future lay with Murray.
As for Jennings, it might be true that he wasn't in the plot; but if my
theory concerning the portraits were correct, he certainly _was_ in it,
and had at least partially planned the whole scheme.

I was so afraid Ralston might accept the bargain without stopping to
think, that I spoke without giving him time to open his lips. "Before
you decide to take Paul Jennings as your doctor, send for an expert to
look through your collection of portraits!"

"What have the portraits to do with Doctor Jennings?" asked Ralston,
astonished.

I stared at Gaby Jennings as I answered; but a woman who uses liquid
powder is fortified against a blush.

"That's what I want you to find out before making a bargain with his
wife. All I know is, there are modern copies in the frames which once
held your greatest treasures. Only a person free to come and go here for
months could bring off such a fraud without too much risk. And if Doctor
Jennings _had_ brought it off, would he be a safe person to look after
the health of the man he'd cheated?"

Gaby Jennings sprang to her feet. "Lady Courtenaye, my husband can sue
you for slander!" she cried.

"He can; but will he?" I retorted.

"I go to tell him of what he is accused by you!" she said. "There is no
fear for us, because you have no proof. But it is finished now! I leave
this house where I have been