"I swore revenge. It was I who sent her the bouquet of flowers that caused her seeming death at the altar that night.
"I resurrected her, and made her a prisoner. She escaped the day that Farmer Thorn shot me.
"She thought I was dead, but as soon as I recovered from my wound I started out upon her trail again, still pursuing my hellish scheme of vengeance.
"But she escaped me for years, and I never met her again, until the night that I murdered her sister.
"I had just reached London that night, and went into the theater, full of idle curiosity to see La Reine Blanche, the beautiful idol of the hour.
"The moment she came upon the stage I recognized in the great actress the lovely girl I had treated so inhumanly.
"In an instant I conceived my diabolical plan of revenge. I hurried out of the theater, sent that note to her dressing-room, and waited at the western door.
"The woman who came had the voice, the form, the step of Queenie, and I plunged my dagger in her heart. I killed Sydney, but the blow was meant for Queenie."
He stopped, and there was silence in the gloomy prison-cell, while the criminal waited for Ernscliffe to speak.
"You are telling me the truth?" he demanded, hoarsely.