The hour was late by now, but Dunn felt no inclination for sleep, and there was no need for him to return indoors as yet, since Deede Dawson, who always locked up the house himself, never did so till past midnight. Till the small hours, very often he was accustomed to sit up absorbed in those chess problems, the composing and solving of which were his great passion, so that, indeed, it is probable that under other circumstances he might have passed a perfectly harmless and peaceful existence, known to wide circles as an extraordinarily clever problemist and utterly unknown elsewhere.
But the Fate that is, after all, but man's own character writ large, had decreed otherwise. And the little, fat, smiling man bending over his travelling chess board on which he moved delicately to and fro the tiny red and white men of carved ivory, now and again removing a piece and laying it aside, had done as much with as little concern to his fellow creatures from the very beginning of his terrible career.
Outside, leaning on the gate where Deede Dawson had left him, Dunn was deep in thought that was not always very comforting, for there was very much in all this laid out for him to accomplish that he did not understand and that disturbed him a good deal.
A careful, cautious “Hist!” broke in upon his thoughts, and in an instant he stiffened to close attention, every nerve on the alert.
The sound was repeated, a faint and wary footstep sounded, and in the darkness a form appeared and stole slowly nearer.
Dunn poised for a moment, ready for attack or retreat, and then all at once his tense attitude relaxed.
“You, Walter,” he exclaimed. “That's good! But how did you get here? And how did you know where I was?”
The new-comer drew a little nearer and showed the tall, thin form of Walter Dunsmore to whom Dunn had spoken at Wreste Abbey.
“I had to come,” he murmured. “I couldn't rest without seeing you. You upset me the other day, saying what you did. Isn't it very dangerous your being here? Suppose Deede Dawson—”
“Oh, if he suspected, there would soon be an end of me,” answered Dunn grimly. “But I think I'm going to win—at least, I did till tonight.”