[THE LOCKET]
The information was so unexpected and terrible that Frank felt the blood leave his cheeks. Pale as a ghost, he rose from his chair, and looked at Donna Maria with dilated eyes. From her confession he fancied that she must be implicated in the double crime, and a feeling of terror seized him at the idea of the woman he loved having brought herself within the reach of the law. Donna Maria saw his expression, and with the swift instinct of a woman, guessed his thoughts. With a haughty gesture she hung back her head, and her eyes sparkled like stars on a frosty night as she spoke to him.
"Oh, don't think I have done anything wrong!" she cried defiantly. "What I did was at the request of my uncle. Sit down, Mr. Darrel, and I'll tell you the story in detail."
She pointed to his chair with a regal gesture, and when he resumed his seat faced him with a wonderfully composed look. She began her confession--as it may be called--tamely enough; but as the story became more dramatic she warmed to her work, and finished with all the fire, and fury, and gesticulation of her Southern nature. Frank, sympathising with her quick spirit, was enthralled by her beauty, moved by her eloquence, and felt that here was a woman to die for.
"When my uncle took leave of us here to go to Italy," she said, "He called me into his study, and, after asking me not to reveal what he was about to tell me, made a confession. That I reveal it now is to save an innocent man from arrest."
"True enough, Miss Sandoval. But the confession?"
"Was that when in Lima ten years ago--at which time he married my aunt--he had become entangled with a certain association called----"
"The Peruvian Patriots," interrupted Frank. "I know all about that society and it's blue mummies. Go on, please."
"Well, Mr. Grent was bound in some way--I don't know how--to assist this society, under penalty of death. He married, and came to England, and thought he would hear no more about the matter. But this year, Captain Manuel, with that ten thousand pounds which belonged to the Peruvian Patriots, came to London, and called to see my uncle. In his hands--after reminding him of his connection with the society--Manuel placed the money, and told him to look after it. My uncle did so, and kept it in this house. A week before his murder he found on this table a Blue Mummy."
"Ah! a Blue Mummy--the sign of death."