“I wonder how many people have died through handling those poisoned pages?” my friend observed. The deadliness of that secret Borgia venom appealed to him as it has appealed to the world through ages.
“Ah!” I said, “it is impossible to tell.”
But my mind was on other things, and as soon as the opportunity offered I related to Walter my strange rencontre with Lady Judith Gordon.
“What?” he cried, jumping up from the couch; “you’ve actually seen her and spoken to her?”
“Certainly. She is charming, and I admit, my dear Walter, that I’ve fallen most desperately in love with her.”
“Love! You actually love her?” he demanded.
“Indeed I do. She is the perfect incarnation of what a good, sweet woman should be. Is there any reason why I should not admire her?”
“None that I know of,” he returned; “but I’m afraid of these people and their connection with this mysterious affair. Remember, all we know about them is that they have led very peculiar lives for years. But time will show whether you are wise. Certainly these people appear to have found the secret just as we have—the secret of the existence of a valuable treasure.”