"Wait, wait! All will be well."
"I can't see how I am to win free of the trouble, Alice dear."
"None of us can see, Bernard. But we are in God's hands. He will help us. See, He has given you a refuge here till your innocence is proved."
"And how long will I keep this refuge?" said Gore, gloomily. "If that young imp Judas learns from Victoria that I am here——"
"Then you can escape to another place. But, Bernard, I have something to tell you." Alice looked round and took a letter out of her pocket cautiously. "This is from Julius. He says that he saw you in London."
"Ah!" Bernard read the letter hurriedly. "My double—my half-brother, Michael."
"Your half-brother! I never knew you had one."
"Nor did I, till Durham found it out from Mrs. Gilroy."
The next ten minutes was taken up by Bernard in explaining what the lawyer had learned from Mrs. Gilroy. Alice was extremely astonished and interested, and quite agreed that it was possible the half-brother might be the guilty person. "And it explains Mrs. Gilroy's accusation of you," said Alice, thoughtfully.
"Without doubt. Mrs. Gilroy never liked me. But do you believe Michael is the real heir?"