to which your letter points.

"I have traced one of the servants who was appointed to keep watch in
the corridor on the night when the first Mrs. Eustace died at Gleninch.
The man perfectly remembers that Miserrimus Dexter suddenly appeared
before him and his fellow-servant long after the house was quiet for the
night. Dexter said to them, 'I suppose there is no harm in my going into
the study to read? I can't sleep after what has happened; I must relieve
my mind somehow.' The men had no orders to keep any one out of the
study. They knew that the door of communication with the bedchamber was
locked, and that the keys of the two other doors of communication were
in the possession of Mr. Gale. They accordingly permitted Dexter to
go into the study. He closed the door (the door that opened on the
corridor), and remained absent for some time--in the study as the men
supposed; in the bedchamber as we know from what he let out at his
interview with you. Now he could enter that room, as you rightly
imagine, in but one way--by being in possession of the missing key.
How long he remained there I cannot discover. The point is of little
consequence. The servant remembers that he came out of the study again
'as pale as death,' and that he passed on without a word on his way back
to his own room.

"These are facts. The conclusion to which they lead is serious in the
last degree. It justifies everything that I confided to you in my office
at Edinburgh. You remember what passed between us. I say no more.

"As to yourself next. You have innocently aroused in Miserrimus Dexter a
feeling toward you which I need not attempt to characterize. There is a
certain something--I saw it myself--in your figure, and in some of your
movements, which does recall the late Mrs. Eustace to those who knew her
well, and which has evidently had its effect on Dexter's morbid mind.
Without dwelling further on this subject, let me only remind you that
he has shown himself (as a consequence of your influence over him) to
be incapable, in his moments of agitation, of thinking before he speaks
while he is in your presence. It is not merely possible, it is highly
probable, that he may betray himself far more seriously than he has
betrayed himself yet if you give him the opportunity. I owe it to you
(knowing what your interests are) to express myself plainly on this
point. I have no sort of doubt that you have advanced one step nearer
to the end which you have i