should not act with undue haste. Perhaps, for my own sake, I ought to
explain that in no way, nor under any circumstances, can I benefit under
the will. When my sister married Mr. Wilkinson, he behaved very
generously to my father, paying off the mortgages on our estate; in
short, delivered us from a very difficult position. Naturally, we never
expected any place in the will, but I hear the omission has caused some
people to speculate, and now that this has happened there may be people
who will speculate about me personally."

"You certainly have a very complete answer," I returned. "What is your
own opinion of your niece's disappearance?"

"I think she has been kidnaped, possibly for the sake of ransom, possibly
because--" and then he paused for a moment. "You know Mr. Wilkinson was
afraid of this very thing?"

"Three years ago he mentioned it to me," said Quarles.

"You knew him, then?"

"I was staying in the same house with him in Scotland; his daughter was
not there. Such a fear, Sir Michael, suggests something in the past,
something Mr. Wilkinson kept to himself."

"I do not know of anything," was the answer. "Of course, I have seen
paragraphs in scandalous journals concerning his wealth, but I knew Ewart
Wilkinson extremely well. He was, and always has been, I am convinced, a
perfectly straightforward man."

This conversation took place early on the morning following the night of