"I will avenge you, my darling," he said. "I will hunt your murderer down."
He went back to the room, where Captain Ayrley awaited him, with a strange expression on his face.
"I do not like to own myself defeated, Lord Linleigh," he said; "but I must own I am baffled here. I can see no motive for this most cruel murder."
"Robbery," said the earl, shortly.
"No: I cannot think so. The maid, who evidently understands her business, tells me that there is not so much as a ring, or an inch of lace missing; whatever the motive may have been, it was certainly not robbery; if so, when the victim lay helpless and dead, why not have carried off the plunder? There is jewelry enough here to have made a man's fortune; if any one risked murder for it, why not have taken it away?"
"Perhaps there was some noise, some interruption; the man grew frightened and ran away."
"I see no sign of it; there is nothing disturbed. Besides, my lord, there is another thing that puzzles me more than all. Why should a man, whose object was simply plunder, employ himself in tearing a wedding-dress and bridal-veil to pieces; why should he have delayed in order to crush her wedding-wreath in his hand, and trample it underneath his feet, especially when, as circumstantial evidence goes to prove, his victim must have been in his presence—must, if she had any fear, have had plenty of time to have rung for help. I do not understand it."
"It certainly seems very mysterious," said Lord Linleigh. "I do not at all understand the destruction of the wedding costume."
"Do not think me impertinent, my lord, if I ask whether there was any rival in the case? This is not a common murder—I would stake the whole of my professional skill on it. It is far more like a crime committed under the maddening influence of jealousy than anything else."
"I do not see that it is possible. My daughter, as was only natural for a beautiful girl in her position, had many admirers; but there was no one who would be likely to be jealous. Another thing is, by her own especial wish and desire, the fact of her marriage was to be kept a profound secret; no one knew one single word about it except ourselves."