"I see," Rupert pondered; "and at the end of the week, if you don't agree to give Carrington five thousand pounds when you get the property, he will tell Lawson that you murdered Leigh."
"He says he will, but how can he prove it?" sneered the other uneasily.
"Well, you see, you lost that opal in the matrix which I found on the verge of the hole where the will had been buried."
"What does that prove?"
"That you were in the grounds of the vicarage on that night."
"I might have lost it on another occasion," argued Mallien desperately.
Rupert smiled dryly. "I don't think Lawson will be of that opinion. Come now, don't you think it is best for us to join forces and crush Carrington? For Dorinda's sake I don't want you to get into trouble."
"If we join forces, what will you ask for your services?" demanded Mallien, suspiciously. "That I should surrender my claim to the property, I suppose?"
"I ask nothing. What do you take me for?" Rupert looked highly indignant. "Do you think that everyone is so sordid as you are, Mallien? We can fight out the question of the will on its own merits. But, for Dorinda's sake, I wish to save you from Carrington's machinations. It is little use your getting the property if you are in danger of arrest."
"I am not."