"You will never find him."
Maxwell bounded from his seat, and crossing rapidly to Mrs. Belswin, seized her wrist.
"Tell me," he said, imperiously, "have you any reason for wishing this man to escape?"
"I!" she murmured, evasively; "I wish him to escape?"
"Yes! To all appearances he is your friend. He comes down with you to Deswarth. A jewel belonging to him is found at the window of a room. In that room a man is found dead. What does it all mean?"
"Wait!" cried the woman, wrenching herself from his grasp. "Wait; I must think."
Maxwell obeyed, and returned to his seat with a cloud on his brow, for the complicity of Mrs. Belswin in the affair now began to assume gigantic proportions.
On her part, Mrs. Belswin saw at a glance the dangers by which she was environed, and her active brain was already at work seeking some plan by which she could extricate herself. She already saw that Maxwell suspected her, and if he did so she trembled lest he should communicate his suspicions to her daughter. With her hands pressed to her burning face, she rapidly glanced at the aspect of affairs in order to know how to act towards this young man, whose attitude towards her was undeniably hostile.
If she refused to tell him anything he would put the matter into the hands of the police, and they would immediately arrest Ferrari. In doing so they would have no difficulty, as he, being a singer, was easily to be found, and appearances were sufficiently strong against him to authorise the granting of a warrant for his arrest. If Ferrari were arrested he would certainly, urged by a fear of the law, reveal all about her in his examination, and Kaituna would then learn that Mrs. Belswin, the companion, was her mother. If she did so, Mrs. Belswin trembled for the result of such a discovery, so at once she made up her mind to promise Maxwell an interview with Ferrari, and meanwhile warn the Italian of his peril. By this means she hoped that, if guilty, Ferrari would at once fly from England; or, if innocent, he would be able to exculpate himself without incriminating her, so that in either case she would still preserve the secret of her true relationship to Kaituna.
"Mr. Maxwell," she said at length, suppressing her agitation, "I will tell you all I know, and then you can judge for yourself."