"That I am absolutely certain about," Jack said. "Seeing that you have been so candid with me, I will be equally candid with you, and tell you something very strange. It has to do with Padini and his violin."
Jack proceeded to explain at length the apparently strange coincidence of the items on Padini's concert programme and their simultaneous playing in Anstruther's study. It was a somewhat complicated story, and Nostalgo did not quite take it in at first. When he thoroughly grasped the situation, he was grimly pleased to pay a high compliment to Anstruther's ingenuity.
"I think I can grasp the meaning of it," he said. "If Anstruther ever found himself in a tight corner--and he is very likely to before long--he has a magnificent alibi. But here we are; just wait till I get my key out."
To Jack's great surprise Nostalgo paused before the front door of Carrington's chambers, and proceeded to fit the key in the latch as if he were the master of the premises. Very coolly he pushed the door back and bade Jack enter. "But this is something like burglary," the latter protested. "Burglary or not, we are going in all the same," Nostalgo growled. "You will see presently something that will surprise you. But stop--surely there is some one coming down the hall."
The hall light was a very dim one, so that it was impossible for the moment to determine the identity of the woman who came down the stairway towards them. She carried in her hand a candle, which had the effect of keeping her face half in shadow. It was evident that the woman had heard the key in the door, and had come down to see if her master required anything.
Satisfied that she was mistaken, she set the candle down on the table. Her features were quite plain now--the sad yet defiant face of Serena. A grasp like a vice was laid on Jack's arm, and his companion's voice whispered hoarsely in his ear.
"Great heaven!" Nostalgo said. "And she is here. Oh, the villainy of it, the villainy of it!"
[CHAPTER XXVII.]
IN THE SMOKING-ROOM.
The woman looked about her as if half expecting to see somebody 'there who had come with evil intent. Jack could not fail to notice the extreme nervousness and agitation of her face. She was no longer quiet and subdued, as he had been accustomed to see her in Panton Square; she seemed as if some force had dragged her there against her will. She advanced towards the table, and, taking up a hat and coat lying there, proceeded to put them on as if she had finished her task whatever it was. If anything had frightened her, it was not, at any rate, the suggestion of burglars, for there was nothing of physical fear to be detected about her.