"But I must not weary you. At the very bottom of my travelling bag was found a bracelet set with turquoises and diamonds, that had been the property of Stilling. In the murdered man's room was found a handkerchief marked with my initials. I had taken a railway ticket to Bristol, but had left the train at Gloucester, and had gone forward by another line in order to baffle pursuit--so they said. Taken in conjunction, these facts were enough to condemn any man, and they condemned me. Twelve men unanimously found me guilty, and the judge told me that he quite concurred in their verdict. And then I saw the black cap put on, and heard my own death-sentence pronounced, and heard my wife's wild shriek for mercy, where no mercy could be shown. Can you wonder that my brain gave way?"
He paused. In the silence they heard the clocks strike twelve.
"The same hand that put the bracelet into my bag put my handkerchief into the murdered man's room. It was the hand of Jacoby! How I know that--how I feel so sure of it--I cannot explain to either of you, and if I could you would only smile at me. In this world much of our highest knowledge comes to us intuitively, and by intuition only do I know that it was Max Jacoby who compassed the death of Paul Stilling--but that suffices for me."
"Then your idea," said Gerald, "is to find out whether this Max Jacoby is still alive?"
"It is. And I want you, out of your knowledge of the world, to advise me as to the best mode of setting about this business."
"I am going out of town to-morrow for a couple of days. I will think over very carefully all that you have said, and will make a point of seeing you immediately upon my return."
With this agreement they separated for the night, and early next morning Gerald set out for Pembridge.
Miss Bellamy had not deemed it necessary to say anything to Ambrose Murray as to the fact of Eleanor still passing as Jacob Lloyd's daughter, and still believing herself to be the heiress to his property. To have told him would only have unsettled his mind still further, and would have served no useful purpose. Besides which, Gerald's visit to Pembridge was for the express purpose of seeing Mr. Kelvin, and of ascertaining from him why he had omitted to carry out the instructions conveyed to him in the sealed packet. In a few days more at the most, Eleanor would learn that she was not the daughter of Jacob Lloyd, and not the heiress she believed herself to be. Meanwhile, it was better, as far as Ambrose Murray was concerned, that these matters should remain untold.