"I speak the truth in order to save from your merciless clutches one woman whose fair name has never been besmirched. I speak for Liane"s sake."
Zertho turned from him with a fierce imprecation on his lips, declaring that the whole story was a tissue of falsehoods, and denouncing his companion Brooker as the actual a.s.sa.s.sin.
"You forget," said Richards, "that in addition to myself there was a second witness, Nelly Bridson, the girl with whom your victim had carried on a mild and harmless flirtation prior to meeting Mariette.
You forget that she was with me, and actually saw you commit the deed."
This truth rendered him voiceless.
"May I, in future, enjoy an absolutely clear conscience that I had no hand in the actual crime?" the Captain asked earnestly, turning to Richards.
"Certainly," he answered, quickly. "Both Nelly and myself saw every movement clearly, for the moon was shining bright as day. We heard you shout in horror and dismay to the a.s.sa.s.sin; we saw the blow struck; we saw the theft committed, and watched you pick up the knife, which you threw down again instantly at the moment when I rushed forward."
"I was, alas, only half-conscious of my actions," he answered. "But the enormity of the crime must have sobered me instantly, for I remember a man approaching--who it was I was not aware until this moment--and knowing that we had been discovered and were in peril, flew for my life back to the Promenade, reaching home by a circuitous route about midnight."
"You need have no further fear of this man," Richards a.s.sured him. "His plan was ingenious, to shift the crime from his own shoulders to yours, and at the same time to marry Liane, but fortunately his own actions convict him. Liane has shown bravery and self-denial, which should further endear her to the heart of the man who loves her, and if the truth I have told brings back her happiness and peace of mind I shall not have spoken in vain."
"I have much to thank you for," Liane faltered, her face bright with a new-born happiness. "You have indeed revived within me hope, life and love. I knew this man was crafty and cruel, but I never dreamed that he himself had committed the crime with which he charged my father. I saw that he was inexorable and relentless, and was compelled to wrench myself from George, whom I loved, and promise to become the wife of--of this a.s.sa.s.sin."
"a.s.sa.s.sin!" cried Zertho. "No, the prospect of becoming Princess d"Auzac proved too attractive for you! It was because both you and your father wanted money and position, that you were ready to become my wife."
"We desired nothing from you," she answered proudly. "Both of us detested you when you found us in England, and thrust yourself upon us.
Upon the gold of the guilty there always lies a curse."
But shrugging his shoulders contemptuously, he said nothing. He fidgetted, anxious to escape, for although he preserved a calm, insolent, almost indifferent manner, he nevertheless knew that concealment of the truth was now no longer possible. At the very instant when he had felt his position the most secure, his perfidy, his cunning, and his crime had been laid bare before them all.
He clenched his hands, muttering an oath behind his set teeth, while his dark eyes, with a glance of hatred in them, flashed with an unnatural brilliance.
For a few moments no one spoke. The silence was complete save for the roar of the waves on the rocks outside and the sobs that now and then escaped Liane. She clung to George, burying her beautiful head upon his shoulder.
At last Mariette spoke, saying,--
"There is yet another fact which is, in itself, sufficient proof of this man"s unscrupulousness. One witness of his crime still lives; the other, Nelly Bridson, is dead. Nelly was once my friend. Unknown to Captain Brooker I knew her intimately as a bright girl months before Charles Holroyde met and admired her. Indeed, it was by her that I was introduced to the man who afterwards loved me, and was so brutally done to death. When at last she became aware that her lover had forsaken her some ill-feeling arose between us. I knew that she must hate me, but I treated her jealousy with unconcern, and remained towards her the same as before. In my heart, however, I envied her her youth and good looks, and feared that Charles Holroyde might return to his first love. But, alas! he was murdered mysteriously--by whom I knew not, until three days ago, when Max Richards divulged to me the truth. Then I resolved that punishment should fall upon the guilty. Well, I hated Nelly because I knew that Holroyde had admired her, and I likewise hated Liane, entertaining a suspicion that because she always avoided me she had spoken of me detrimentally to the man whom I loved. After Holroyde"s death I left the Riviera and went to Paris, to Wiesbaden, to Vienna, caring little whither I went, until at last, about a year afterwards, I returned to Monte Carlo, and heard from one of Captain Brooker"s friends that he and the girls had left long ago for England, where they had resolved to live in the future. Immediately after my lover"s death luck had forsaken me entirely, and I pa.s.sed a spurious bank-note for a large amount at Ma.r.s.eilles. The police were endeavouring to find me, and it was to avoid arrest that I was travelling. I wrote several times to Nelly and received replies, stating how happy they were in their country home in England, and how much more peaceful and enjoyable it was than at Nice. Still there was one matter upon which I desired to see her, a matter connected with the family of the man who was dead. He had, I believed, told her of his relations in England, but he had spoken no word of them to me. I had in my possession a Cosway miniature he had one day left at my house, an antique portrait of an elderly lady, beautifully painted on ivory and set round with brilliants. He had mentioned to me that it was an heirloom, and I desired to return it to the family if I could find them. With that object I went to England, and one summer"s evening met Nelly by appointment in a country lane a short distance from Stratfield Mortimer."
"You met her?" Captain Brooker exclaimed. "She never told me so."
"She had, alas, no opportunity," Mariette answered. "For it was on that evening she met with her death. She had ridden her cycle, and I found her resting in the gateway she had indicated in her letter. She seemed unusually nervous, I noticed, nevertheless I attributed it to the fact that she regarded me as her rival, even though the man we both loved was dead. For nearly an hour we remained together chatting, until the sunset faded and dusk crept on. I asked her what the man had told her regarding his family, and showed her the antique miniature. Then she told me a fact which held me speechless in amazement. Charles Holroyde was no other than the son of a man living close by that spot, Sir John Stratfield."
"My brother!" cried George. "Impossible!"
"It was the truth. He had told her everything. The father of Charles Holroyde was actually living within a mile of that spot, and the portrait was one of Lady Anne Stratfield, a noted beauty, which was painted by the fashionable miniaturist, Cosway, shortly before his death. At first I could not credit that he was actually Sir John"s son, but she brought proof positive to show that what she said was correct, and at her request I gave her the miniature to return to Sir John. She promised to call next day and give it into his hands, saying that it came from a person who desired to remain anonymous."
"Why did you not come to the Court yourself?" George asked quickly.
"I had no desire to meet the father of my dead lover," she replied.
"But he must have been acquainted with you, because he mentioned you in his will."
"Yes," she answered reflectively, "he must, I suppose, have known of me."
"Then what occurred afterwards?" Brooker eagerly inquired. "Tell us the events of that night in their proper sequence."
"After we had talked for some time, she telling me how happy both she and Liane were, and how the latter had become engaged clandestinely to the Baronet"s son, George, she rode beside me as far as the lodge gates of the Court, where we parted. Then she remounted and rode back in the direction of the spot where she was afterwards discovered, while I strolled slowly on to the station, whence I returned to London. It was dusk before I left Stratfield Mortimer, but as I changed at Reading to enter the train for Paddington, I caught a glimpse of a face I thought I knew. It was only for a single instant, but the face was one that once seen is never forgotten. It was the face of Zertho."
"You saw me!" he gasped.
"Yes. You were in a crowd on Reading platform, and were about to enter the same train as myself, but changing your mind, suddenly left the station hurriedly," she said. "At that time, remember, I had no idea that you were in England, for Nelly had not mentioned your visit. Two days later, however, I was appalled by reading in the papers that poor Nelly had been murdered almost immediately after I had left her, and quite close to the spot where we had at first stood. Afterwards in the report of the inquest, I saw that you were present and had given evidence. Then there was silence. The affair was an enigma, and the police possessed no clue. The papers mentioned a broad mark a foot wide upon the dust, which they regarded as mysterious. It was made by my skirt which swept the road. I alone held the key to the enigma. In order to a.s.sure myself that my suspicions were not unfounded, I returned to Reading, made careful inquiries there, and when I had satisfied myself, left England with the knowledge I had obtained still in my possession."
"What did you discover?" inquired George, quickly, while Liane still clung to him tremblingly.
"I discovered absolute proof of the ident.i.ty of Nolly"s a.s.sa.s.sin. It was Zertho d"Auzac!"
CHAPTER TWENTY.
AT CROSS LANE.
"You lie!" the Prince cried indignantly. "There is no proof."
"Listen!" Mariette retorted in a firm, harsh tone, gazing at him steadily. "Listen while I recall to your memory the events of that fateful night. In my inquiries I traced your progress step by step, and every movement is entirely plain to me. You went to England with solely one object in view, namely, to get rid of Nelly Bridson, the woman who could convict you of murder."
"I deny that I had any hand whatever in the affair," he protested.
"Why, she went with me to the station and saw me off to Reading! It was given in evidence that the police inquired of the station officials at Stratfield Mortimer, and also at Reading, and were entirely satisfied that there was no suspicion upon me. Therefore, whatever you say is utterly worthless," he added, turning from her contemptuously.
"We shall see," she replied. "If you have so conveniently forgotten what your movements were, I will describe them. It is quite true that Nelly saw you off to Reading. But prior to this, while alone in the dining-room of Captain Brooker"s cottage, you found lying about the letter I had written her making the appointment. Curiosity prompted you to read its contents, and you therefore knew that at seven o"clock she would be in Cross Lane. You bade her farewell at eight minutes past six, and your train arrived at Reading at twenty minutes past. You immediately took a fly back towards Stratfield, but dismissed the man at Threemile Cross, and after watching the conveyance out of sight, took a cut across the fields for about a mile and a half to Cross Lane, thus completely doubling. It was growing dark when you reached the railway bridge, but you saw your victim coming from the opposite direction, and drew back half-way up the steep ascent, where you knew she must pa.s.s slowly. Suspecting no danger, the light-hearted girl allowed her machine to run swiftly down the incline, then pedalled hard for the ascent, when suddenly you raised your weapon, took deliberate aim and fired. With a cry she dropped sideways on her feet, the machine falling with her. Then she blindly staggered forward two or three paces, and sank to earth, dying. For an instant you waited, but even while you looked the poor girl sighed heavily and pa.s.sed away. Then, fearing detection, you turned and fled back across the fields to Reading station, where I saw you an hour later."
"It"s an absolute falsehood!" he cried. "I went direct to London after leaving the girl."
"You did not, for I found the man who drove you to Threemile Cross, and who will give evidence against you on your trial."
"You have!" he gasped. "You will hand me over to the police?" he added hoa.r.s.ely.
"Certainly," she answered, firmly. "The police of Reading and the police of Nice will alike be anxious to give you free lodgings in a chamber scarcely as comfortable as any in the Villa Chevrier. For a good many months the mystery of Charles Holroyde"s death has puzzled them, but it will remain an enigma no longer."
"Then Brooker will suffer also," he cried.
"No, he will not," replied the inventor of "The Agony of Monte Carlo,"
quickly. "My evidence will prevent that. I saw you commit the murder, and likewise witnessed how Brooker endeavoured to prevent you."
"Again," cried Mariette, "there is yet another fact. From inquiries I have made it is plain that some months prior to Nelly"s death she, by word or action, had betrayed her knowledge of your crime committed in Nice."
"I recollect now," cried Liane, suddenly. "She always loathed Zertho, a fact which often caused me some surprise, he having made her several handsome presents after his sudden change of fortune. Once, too, I chanced to remark in jest that I might possibly become Princess d"Auzac, whereupon she answered, `No, never. I could prevent that.""
"This exactly proves my contention," exclaimed Mariette, excitedly turning to the others. "Nelly had betrayed her knowledge of his secret, and he was in deadly fear of her. He committed the second crime so that the first should remain concealed. It was not until months afterwards, when Richards disclosed his ident.i.ty, and, having had a run of ill-luck at the tables, offered to preserve silence for a momentary consideration, that he knew there was a second witness. Nelly had never told him that she had a companion on that fateful night, and he felt a.s.sured that the man who had so suddenly sprung upon them could not again identify him. Only when Richards came forward did he realise the truth that in taking Nelly Bridson"s life he had failed to efface his first crime, and had placed himself in deadlier peril."
A deep silence fell. The man accused stood motionless, his dark, sallow face livid, his eyes, with a haunting look of abject terror in them, fixed upon the carpet. His hands were clenched, his head bent, his body rigid. This sudden and unexpected exposure held him dumb.
At last Liane spoke in a low musical voice, a little strained perhaps, but her tone showed that at last the crushing weight of Zertho"s accusation of her father had been lifted from her mind, and she already felt her freedom to love George Stratfield.
"There is yet one thing unexplained," she said. "I have a confession to make."