“I am,” proudly, “Captain La Montagne is entirely innocent of any crime; on that I will stake my reputation and if need be, my life.”
“Mon coeur, mon coeur!” exclaimed a passionate voice from the hall and René La Montagne sped to Evelyn’s side regardless of their presence and kissed her again and again. With one arm encircling her waist he faced the staggered coroner and Mrs. Burnham, and addressed them in English. “What Miss Preston states is true. I knew not of the crime until I read of it in the newspapers; I knew not the victim; I knew not this house until my arrival a few minutes ago.”
Another figure hovering in the hall just outside the door joined the group in the library.
“What you say is true in every particular save one, Captain,” stated Marian Van Ness clearly; she paused and stepped to one side to let Detective Mitchell and James Palmer enter. “You knew the dead man.”
“I, madame?” La Montagne gazed at her incredulously.
“Yes.” Marian drew in her breath sharply; she was keeping herself well in hand except for the nervous twitching of her fingers. Her eyes roved around the group—Dan Maynard was not there. She passed her handkerchief across her lips. “Yes, you knew him, Captain La Montagne,” she continued. “He had often threatened your life.”
“Marian!” Evelyn’s anguish almost broke down the other’s composure, but she continued to regard the Frenchman steadily. None of the group about her were aware of the butler’s approach until he announced from the doorway:
“Dr. Hayden to see Miss Evelyn,” and Jones stepped back to allow the physician to enter, but curiosity kept him loitering near the door within earshot. In his absorption in what was transpiring in the library he never noticed the stealthy approach of Mrs. Ward. The housekeeper, choosing her opportunity with care, slipped unseen behind one of the portières of the library door.
Hayden stopped on the threshold of the library and gazed in amazement at the tense attitude of Mrs. Burnham and her guests.
“Come in, doctor,” she said. “Mrs. Van Ness is about to tell us——” her face was like paper—“the name of the dead man.”