Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-29
PART V-DAYi
CHAPTER I.
What Happened in Suite Fourteen.

| What Happened in Suite Fourteen.
F.! l was conscious, In a dim way. that
the end was at hand. that We were about
| to penetrate the mystery. Indeed. l al
| ready had a vague linking OF the truth
| too vague to be put into words too OBJ
| scure to be dis rerned clearly. ! was trem-
| bling with eagerness; endeavofed to string
upon a common thread the bits OF evidence
| which had seemed to Godfrey so impor-
tant-the bottle the scratches on the wall.
the coat rack. the broken cane, the note,
| but for the life of me / could see no con-
nection between them. Yet l knew there
/ must be- Godfrey would not now be
/ walking up and down the room with
face so beaming. so triumphant
Miss Croydon will you at once, sir.
| announced Thomas from thes threshold,
and we followed him to the farther end
of the corridor, where he tapped at a door.
| A voice babe us enter.
| She was standing by a window, looking
out across the waters of the bay, and she
| did not turn for instant-not, indeed,
| until Godfrey had closed the door care
fully behind him. | have seen few women
more regal more magnificent. yet there was
about her-in her face in the droop of her
hgure-Such an air of utter misery, of ex
| qusite suffering, that. after the first mo-
ment. one forgot to admire her in the de-
| sire to be of service.
You wished to see me?" she asked, in
! q low voice.
| Eyes, Miss Croydon" replied Godfrey.
more gently perhaps than he had intended
| to speak, This is Mr.. Lester" he added,
/ who has been engaged to defend Mr..
| Drysdale.'
She acknowledged the introduction with
| the faintest of bows.
Il hope Mr.. Lester will De successful"
she said, in the coolest of tones. One
would have thought her mere chance ac-
| quaintance of my client.
l saw Godfrey looking at her with
| searching eyes, and his face hardened
I'VE mean to be successful he said
curtly You may as well ask us to sit
down, Miss Croydon. because our business
| here will take some time and l am sure
| ii Will tire you to stand
| She raised her eyebrows with a little ges-
! ture of astonishfd disdain.
Really" she began; then her eyes met
his. burning with meaning. ''Oh, very We'll"
| she said family, and sank into the chair
nearest her.
l felt my cheeks flush with Indignation at
! Godfrey's manner: surely this woman had
| enough to bear already! / opened my lips
to protest, but he silenced me with
| glance.
Now, Miss Croydon" he continued. in
| the same coldly imperative tone, Il intend
| to speak to you bluntly and directly. We
have beaten about the bush too long al
ready. l see that you are not inclined to
| deal frankly with us-you have not been
| frank with us from the first-you have
sought to blind us. TO throw off
| the track Therefore 1 shall tell you
| what we already know, in order that you
may realize how useless it is for you TO try
| to hold us off. Were going to see that the
guilty man is punished. not for this crime
alone. but also for that other one at the
Marathon. of which you were the only wit
ness You shall not be permitted to keep
| him from justice day longer"
She raised her head and looked at him.
| her face white as marble and as immobile;
| but she did not speak. She grew livid and
more livid as he continued, watching him
with starting eyes. and at one moment l
| thought she would collapse; but L did not
know her strength OF will.
yin the first place." went on Godfrey
evenly. never removing his eyes from hers.
| we know that this man Tremaine invegled
| your sister into a schoolgirl elopement and
marriage: she was rescued from him; she
| thought him dead: she married Delroy;
| came to New York; Tremaine followed her
and attempted the eXtortion of blackmail;
you met him at the Marathon: while you
were talking, Thompson interfered and
Tremaine killed him escaping before the
officers arrived. You did not know Thomp-
son, but you saw Simmonds and me take
out his pocketbook; you heard me read
line or two from one of a packet of clip
| pings we found there, and while were
in the bed room you took those clippings
from the body and hid them under the edge
| of the carpet
She breathed a long sigh and sat erect
| again.
All" she said, with little smile. Il
was beginning to fear you all that seemed
your information came from
| 1T is correct. them asked Godfrey, a
! CLEAN of triumph flashing across his face.
She glanced at him in surprise.
ooh. | understand: /: gas merely theoriz-
ing. Well it was very 4 overly done, Mr..
| Godfrey.
And it is correct?" be * sisted
She hesitated yet a mc'>ent, but there
was no denying the Importantly of his
gaze.
Yes" she answered; Eyes"
Godfrey leaned back in his chair with a
| long sigh of relief He had won the battle.
Miss Croydon he said. TN going to
reward you for your frankness by telling
| you something which l had intended to
| keep secret a while longer. jazz - punish
you. Your sister never was ShS wife Of
Tremaine and has nothing whatever to fear
| from him; he has no hold on her at all.
She has never been anybody's wife but Mr..
She was staring at him with widely
opened eyes, her hands -elasped above her
heart
"Oh, If 1t were really SOL" she cried IF
It We're really sol"
1T is So" repeated Godfrey. and took
| little yellow envelope from his pocket.
Read this" and he unfe'ded a sheet or
paper and held 1t toward her.
She took 1t with trembling hand and read
the message written upon it; but seemingly
without understanding it.
at is a CABLE he explained, from the
Records correspondent at Dieppe. Your
pa rdOn Lester he added with a fleeing
smile: Il forgot to show it TO you on the
trip out. Please read it aloud, Miss Croy-
The widow of Victor Charente' she
read in a low voice, 'C.ied here February
81 1901. Had never married again. she
looked up, her brows still knitted. Wen!
she asked.
We'll" said Godfrey. Victor Charente
Is the real name of Tremaine. He married
that girl many years before he met your
sister She was his legal wife. Your sis
ter never was She was never the legal
wife of any one except Richard Delroy."
She understood now, and the glad tears
hurst forth unrestraina Indeed, she
made no effort to restrain them, but only
rocked back and forth, pressing the mes
age against her heart.
and then she started up from her chair.
Il must tell her." she said. -at once. If you
knew how she has suffered! She must not
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