e wondered at that he felt shaken and
nervous. Moreover, he knew little about the English law, and hardly
guessed how his misdeeds would be punished. Still, he did not surrender
on the spot, but listened quietly to Lucian's story, in the hope of
seeing some way of escape from his awkward position.

"The other day I went to Dr. Jorce's asylum," said Lucian slowly, "and
there I discovered--it matters not how--that your friend Clear was Mr.
Vrain; also I learned that he had been placed in the asylum by you and
Mrs. Clear. Jorce gave me her address in Bayswater, but when I went
there I could not find her; she had left. I then put an advertisement in
all the papers, stating that if she called on me she would hear of
something to her advantage. Now, Count, it appears that Mrs. Clear was
in the habit of looking into the papers to see if there was any message
from yourself, or your friend Wrent, so she saw my advertisement at
once, and came in person to reply to it."

"One moment, Mr. Denzil," said Ferruci politely. "I know no one called
Wrent, and he is not my friend."

"We'll come to that hereafter," answered Lucian, with a shrug. "In the
meantime I'll proceed with my story, which I see interests you very
much. Well, Count, it seems that Michael Clear was an actor, who bore a
strong resemblance to Mr. Vrain, save that he had not a scar on his
face. Vrain, at Bath, was always clean shaven; now he wears a long white
beard, but that is neither here nor there. Clear had a moustache, but
when that was shaved off he looked exactly like Vrain. For purposes of
your own, which you can easily guess, you made the acquaintance of this
man, a profligate and a drunkard, and proposed, for a certain sum of
money to be paid to his wife, that he, Michael Clear, should personate
Vrain and live in the Silent House in Geneva Square, under the name of
Berwin. You knew that Clear was slowly dying of consumption and drink,
so you trusted that he would die as Vrain; that Mrs. Vrain--who I
believe is in the plot--would recognise the corpse by the description in
the newspapers; and that, when Clear was buried as Vrain, she would get
the assurance money and marry you."

"That is clever," said the Count, with a sneer.

"But is it true?"

"You know best," answered Lucian, coolly. "However, all turned out as
you expected, for Clear died as Vrain--or rather was murdered at your
command, as he did not die quickly enough--his body was recognised by
Mrs