"No. But I'll make a bargain with you."
"What is it?"
"If Edwin will not marry me he must be hanged. Help me to hang him, and I'll become your wife."
Lemby was quite unmoved by this villainous proposal. "No, ma'am, that wouldn't be dealing square. I must think of my gal, you know. Try another man for the job. I'm no saint, but I draw the line at your suggestion."
"I shall try no other man," cried Lady Wyke, standing up and smiling strangely; "and, indeed, I need no assistance. I can prove Mr. Craver's guilt. Mrs. Vence is coming down, Neddy is coming down, and I have him in a trap. If Mr. Craver is not in gaol by Monday afternoon----"
"Well, ma'am?" Questioned the pirate, roughly, and bending forward.
"I'll marry you when and where you like."
"It's a bargain," said Lemby, gruffly; "and I'll twist your neck if you break it."
[CHAPTER XXIII.]
Mr. Oliver Lemby did not trouble to see Lady Wyke again. The two quite understood one another, and there was no need for further conversation. Seeing what Claudia had learnt from Mrs. Vence, the pirate was indeed surprised that Sir Hector's widow intended to leave him alone and get Edwin arrested. Being so passionate and vindictive a woman, it was natural enough that she desired rather to see Craver in the dock than at the altar beside Claudia. Since she could not get him herself--and she had tried every means in her power to win him--it was plain that she intended to see him hanged rather than permit him to marry her rival. Her motive was easily guessed, but what puzzled Lemby was how she meant to bring about her aim. The evidence of Mrs. Vence, as the pirate knew, was against him, and involved him deeply in the crime. Therefore it did not seem much good for the widow to bring the housekeeper down to Hedgerton in order to implicate Edwin, which, on the face of it, she could not do. The sole way in which Lemby could conjecture Lady Wyke intended to act was that Neddy would be used to accuse Craver. But then Neddy liked Craver, and was friendly to Claudia, so he might not be inclined to the woman's bidding. And, so far as could be seen. Lady Wyke had no means of compelling the boy, or Mrs. Vence either, to give false evidence. It was all a mystery.