Ferruci described in the papers, and no doubt will guess that the
game is up; so he'll keep away."

"Nevertheless, we'll do as Lydia suggests," said Diana obstinately. "You
see Mr. Link and Mrs. Clear, and arrange about the cypher. Then my
father is to be discharged as cured to-morrow, and I'll let him go out
if he pleases. Of course, I'll follow him; then I'll be able to see if
he goes to Pimlico."

"But, Diana, suppose he does go to the Silent House, and proves to be
Wrent?"

"He won't do that, my dear. My father is no more Wrent than you are. I
believe Lydia speaks in the full belief that he is; but Ferruci, for his
own ends, lied to her. However, to trap the real man, let us do as Lydia
suggests. The idea is a good one."

"Well, we'll try," said Lucian, with a sigh. "But I do hope, Diana, that
this case will end soon. Every week there is some fresh development in a
new direction, and I am getting quite bewildered over it."

"It will end with the capture of Wrent, the assassin."

"I hope so; and God grant Wrent does not prove to be your father!"

"There is no fear of that," said Diana gravely. "My father is insane
more or less, but he is not a murderer. I am quite content to risk the
trap suggested by that woman."

Lucian did not at once adopt the plan to net Wrent--whosoever he might
be--invented by Lydia, and approved of by Diana. On the whole, he could
not bring himself to believe that a weak-headed, foolish old creature
like Vrain had masqueraded in Jersey Street as Wrent. Still there were
certain suspicious incidents which fitted in very neatly with Ferruci's
story. Mrs. Clear had stated that Vrain, when under her charge, escaped
several times, and had remained away for several days, until brought
back again by the Count. Again, the appearance of Wrent, as described by
Rhoda, was precisely the same as the looks of Vrain when Lucian saw him
in the Hampstead asylum; so it seemed that there might be some truth in
the story.

"But it's impossible!" said Lucian to himself. "Vrain is half mad and
incapable of conducting his own life, or arranging so cleverly to commit
a crime. Also he had no money, and, had he lived in Jersey Street, would
not have been able to pay Mrs. Bensusan. There is something more in the
coincidence of this similarity of looks than meets the eye. I'll see
Link and hear what he has to say on the subject. It's time he found out
something."

The next day Lucian paid a visit to Link, but