“Was any of the liqueur given to any one?” asked Boyd grimly.
Ere she could respond the door was thrown open, and Dick entered with Lily Lowry. He had, it transpired, gone that day and besought her forgiveness.
In a single glance he realised what had occurred, and without a word he closed the door, and both stood in silence to listen to her statement.
How strange a thing is this life of ours! We are in hell one hour, and in heaven the next.
Chapter Twenty Four.
The Truth Revealed.
“Remain patient and I’ll explain,” Eva answered, glancing at the new-comers. “First, however, let me relate a very curious circumstance. Hartmann, who lived somewhere in London, we saw seldom, but very soon after taking possession of The Hollies, there one day called an old friend of Madame’s, accompanied by her husband. They were the Blains. Mrs Blain afterwards came frequently to us at The Hollies, and we often spent the day at Riverdene, while so intimate did the two women become that Madame took the house next to that rented by Mrs Blain in Kensington.”
“Next door?” I gasped, astounded. “In Upper Phillimore Place?”