"He promised not to do so, and I thought if I helped him to kill Francis I could force him to marry me."
"You love him greatly?"
"I love him better than anyone else in the world."
"I am sorry for that," said Olivia, with a touch of pity, "because Felix is dead."
"Felix dead!" said Rose incredulously. "Then who is this man?"
"This man is my lover, Francis Briarfield, who returned from Chili on the 6th of June."
CHAPTER XII.
[BACK FROM THE GRAVE.]
For the moment I felt but little surprise, as I thought Olivia was but making the same mistake she had made formerly. Yet when I noted that she knew the true date of her lover's return, and remarked the strange expression on the face of Rose, I became instinctively convinced that she spoke the truth. It was Francis Briarfield who stood before me, and the dead man was Felix. How the change of personality had taken place I was unable to guess, but nevertheless felt that it was true.
Rose Gernon, with a look of disappointed rage, was the first to speak. She stamped her foot, and laughed scornfully.