McKay had most to tell. He spoke first of the offer to go on the headquarter-staff which he had refused. Then of the strange accidents by which he had become heir presumptive to the earldom of Essendine. Last of all, of the narrow escape he had of his life.
Hyde pressed him on this point.
"You fell overboard—lost your balance, eh? Entirely your own doing? Mrs. Wilders did not help you at all?"
"How on earth, Hyde, did you guess that? I never hinted at such a thing."
"I know her—do not look surprised—I know her, and have done so intimately for years. There is nothing she would stick at if she saw her advantage therefrom. You were in her way; she sought to remove you, as, no doubt, she, or some one acting for her, had removed Lord Lydstone, and—and—for all I know, ever so many more."
"Can she be such a fiendish wretch?"
"She is a demon, Stanislas McKay. Beware how you cross her path. But let her also take heed how she tries to injure you again. She will have to do with me then."
"Why, Hyde! what extraordinary language is this? What do you know of Mrs. Wilders? What can you mean?"
"Some day you shall hear everything, but not now. It is too long a story. Besides, here we are at Balaclava. Do you know where your uncle's ship lies?"