There was a murmur of horror among those present, in which even Lord Arthur joined, and Frederick, who had been sitting motionless on the sofa with Lady Kingsbury's toy terrier lying across his knees, unconsciously twisted the little dog's ear so violently that it gave a suppressed howl, and, reproachfully looking at him, retired to its mistress' skirts in high dudgeon.
“Remember, please,” remarked the colonel, “that you insisted that I should tell you all this, and that I did so against my own inclination.”
“Yes, of course, of course, my dear Charlie. But do go on, please,” exclaimed Lady Margaret, impatiently.
“All right, Pearl. You are really the most blood-thirsty little woman I have ever met. I suppose I shall have to spin you the remainder of the yarn,” replied the colonel, as he laughed somewhat constrainedly.
“I forgot to tell you that a man of the name of Count von Waldberg, a Prussian nobleman, with whom we had become acquainted on our passage out to Bombay, was at the time staying at Baroda with a Colonel Fitzpatrick. This young man never took my fancy, and I had had occasion to believe him to be a rather shady character.”
“Just like you. You always manage to see the dark side of everybody,” interrupted Lord Arthur, who was lounging on a pile of cushions.
“Please, Arthur, spare us your remarks. Do, there's a good fellow,” cried the irrepressible Pearl.
“When you have quite finished fighting there I will resume my story,” exclaimed Colonel Clery.
“Don't mind them, Charlie. We are all very anxious to hear the end,” rejoined Lady Kingsbury, smiling.
“Very well. I was just telling you about this man Waldberg. He was invited by the Guicowar of Baroda to be present at the execution which I have just described, and created quite a sensation by fainting away at the most crucial moment thereof. Some days later he disappeared from Baroda, leaving a letter for Colonel Fitzpatrick, in which he stated that he had been called away on pressing business, and he has never been heard of since. However, it was ascertained soon after his departure that he was the last person who had been seen with the murdered woman before her death, and that he had been noticed within a short time of the crime near the very spot where the body was found. It was also discovered that he had been on terms of considerable intimacy with her, and that half an hour before the body was found he had called at the house, and, under pretext of waiting for her, had spent some time alone in her boudoir. As a considerable sum of money and some very valuable jewels were afterward found by the widow's executors to be missing from a desk in this particular room, the theft, as well as the murder, was immediately laid at Count von Waldberg's door. It was too late, however, for the bird had flown, and all efforts of the police were powerless even to trace him out of India. I must add that there were some very distressing circumstances with regard to Colonel Fitzpatrick's lovely daughter, who, on hearing of the count's sudden departure, committed suicide by drowning herself in the river.”