"No," said Alice, firmly. "Mrs. Gilroy would have claimed the money and the title for her son had there been a true marriage. There is something wrong, Bernard. I don't know what it is, but I feel sure that Mrs. Gilroy is not so secure about her position as she pretends to be."
"Well," said Bernard, putting the letter into his pocket, "Durham will tell us what she says."
Then occurred one of those coincidences which occur in real life quite as often as they do in novels. Durham suddenly entered the room, looking disturbed. He saluted Alice, then turned to his client—"Mrs. Gilroy!" he exclaimed.
"What of her?" asked Gore. "Has she confessed?"
"She has left the Hall, and no one knows where she is!"
CHAPTER XV
THE PAST OF ALICE
The lovers stared at Durham when he made this startling announcement, for startling it was, considering how necessary Mrs. Gilroy's evidence was to procure the freedom of Gore. He sat down wiping his face—for he had ridden over post-haste—and looked excessively chagrined.