“Impossible! They would not dare!”
“Indeed they would. The police know that Captain de Mazareen is here.”
“I swear they do not,” rejoined Mr. Baddock. “Felkin is no traitor, and no one else——”
“It was I who gave information to the police,” said Lady Molly, speaking loudly and clearly. “I called up the superintendent on the telephone just now, and told him that his men would find the escaped convict hiding at Appledore Castle.”
“You!” ejaculated Mr. Baddock, in a tone of surprise and horror, not unmixed with a certain note of triumph. “You?”
“Yes!” she replied calmly. “I am of the police, you know. I had to do my duty. Open the door, Mary,” she added, turning to me.
Captain Hubert had not spoken a word so far. Now, when the men, led by Detective-Inspector Etty, entered the room, he walked with a firm step towards them, held out his hands for the irons, and with a final look at Lady Molly, in which love, trust, and hope were clearly expressed, he passed out of the room and was soon lost to sight.
My dear lady waited until the heavy footfalls had died away; then she turned with a pleasant smile to Mr. Philip Baddock:
“I thank you for your kind thoughts of me,” she said, “and for your noble efforts on behalf of your nephew. My position was a difficult one. I hope you will forgive the pain I have been obliged to bring upon you.”
“I will do more than forgive, Lady Molly,” he said earnestly, “I will venture to hope.”