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in widow's garb, as a distant relative of his who was to be his housekeeper. So, for my son's sake, hoping he would some day receive his rights, I have lived a double life, regarded as a servant where I should have been mistress, and holding that poor position only because it was within my power to put the master of the house in a felon's cell!"

      "Can you produce the certificate of this marriage?" inquired the coroner, regarding the witness with a searching glance as she paused in her recital.

      "Unfortunately," she replied, in a tone ringing with scorn and defiance, "I cannot produce our marriage certificate, as my husband kept that in his possession, and frequently threatened to destroy it. If it is in existence, it will be found in his safe; but I can produce a witness who was present at our marriage, and who himself signed the certificate."

      "State the name of this witness."

      "Richard Hobson, of London."

      "You are then acquainted with this Hobson?" the coroner inquired, at the same time making an entry in the memorandum he held.

      "Naturally, as he was at one time my husband's attorney."

      "He called at Fair Oaks yesterday, did he not?"

      "He did."

      "Do you know whether he called more than once?"

      "He came a second time, in the evening, accompanied by his clerk."

      "Was his object at either time to secure an interview with Mr. Mainwaring?"

      "He called to see me on private business."

      "Had he any intention of meeting Mr. Mainwaring later?"

      "I know nothing regarding his intentions."

      "Mrs. LaGrange," said the coroner, after a pause, "you were in Mr. Mainwaring's library between the hours of eleven and twelve last night, were you not?"

      Her face darkened with anger at his form of address. "I was in my husband's library at that hour," she replied.

      "How long were you there?"

      "I cannot state exactly," she answered, indifferently; "perhaps half an hour."

      "Did Mr. Scott repeat correctly your words to Mr. Mainwaring?"

      "I have no doubt that he did. His memory on the subject is much better than mine."

      "What was the meaning of your threat to Mr. Mainwaring, that you would make him and his friends regret the day's proceedings?"

      "He understood my meaning. He knew that I could set aside the will, and could ruin him by exposing his duplicity and fraud."

      "What reply did he make?"

      "He answered me, as usual, with sneers; but I saw that he felt somewhat apprehensive. I wished to give him a little time to reflect upon a proposition I had made, and I left the library, intending to return later; but," she added, slowly and significantly, "I was superseded by another visitor."

      "Explain your meaning," said the coroner, briefly.

      "My husband's private secretary entered the library directly after I left. Some thirty minutes later I passed down the corridor towards the library, and was startled to hear Mr. Mainwaring, in loud and excited tones, denouncing some one as a liar and an impostor. The reply was low, in a voice trembling with rage, but I caught the words, 'You are a liar and a thief! If you had your deserts, you would be in a felon's cell to-night, or transported to the wilds of Australia!' There was much more in the same tone, but so low I could not distinguish the words, and, thinking Mr. Mainwaring was likely to be occupied for some time, I immediately retired to my room."

      "Was the voice of the second speaker familiar to you?" inquired Dr. Westlake, in the breathless silence that followed this statement.

      A half smile, both cunning and cruel, played around the lips of the witness, as she answered, with peculiar emphasis and with a ring of triumph in her tone, —

      "The voice was somewhat disguised, but it was distinctly recognizable as that of Mr. Scott, the private secretary."

      To Scott himself, these words came with stunning force, not so much for the accusation which they conveyed, as that her recital of those words spoken within the library seemed but the repetition of words which had rung in his brain the preceding night, as, alone in his room, he had, in imagination, confronted his employer with the proof of his guilt which that afternoon's search had brought to light. His fancy had vividly portrayed the scene in which he would arraign Hugh Mainwaring as a thief, and would himself, in turn, be denounced as an impostor until he should have established his claims by the indubitable evidence now in his possession. Such a scene bad in reality been enacted, — those very words had been spoken, — and, for an instant, it seemed to Scott as though he had been, unconsciously, one of the actors.

      The general wonder and consternation with which he was now regarded by the crowd quickly recalled him, however, to the present situation, and awakened within him a sudden, fierce resentment, though he remained outwardly calm.

      "At that time," continued the coroner, "were you of the opinion that it was Mr. Scott whom you heard thus addressing Mr. Mainwaring?"

      "Yes, I had every reason to believe it was he, and I have now additional reasons for the same belief."

      "Are these additional reasons founded on your own personal knowledge, or on the information of others?"

      "Upon information received from various members of the household."

      "Did you see Mr. Scott leave the library?"

      "I did not."

      "Can you state about what time you heard this conversation?"

      "I went immediately to my room, and there found that it lacked only ten minutes of one."

      "Did you hear any unusual sound afterwards?"

      "I did not. I heard no one in the halls; and Mr. Mainwaring's apartments were so remote from the general sleeping-rooms that no sound from there, unless very loud, could have reached the other occupants of the house."

      Further questions failed to develop any evidence of importance, and the witness was temporarily dismissed. Glancing at his watch, the coroner remarked,

      "It is nearly time to adjourn, but if Mr. Hardy has returned we will first hear what he has to report."

      As the valet again came forward, Dr. Westlake asked, "Were you able to learn anything concerning the strangers who were here yesterday?"

      "Not very much, sir," was the reply. "I went to the Arlington first and inquired for Mr. J. Henry Carruthers, and they told me there was no such person registered there; but they said a man answering that description, tall and wearing dark glasses, came into the hotel last evening and took dinner and sat for an hour or so in the office reading the evening papers. He went out some time between seven and eight o'clock, and they had seen nothing more of him."

      "Was Richard Hobson at the Arlington?"

      "No, sir; but I went to the Riverside, and found R. Hobson registered there. They said he came in in the forenoon and ordered a carriage for Fair Oaks. He came back to lunch, but kept his room all the afternoon. He had a man with him in his room most of the afternoon, but he took no meals there. After dinner Hobson went out, and nobody knew when he came back; but he was there to breakfast, and took the first train to the city. I made some inquiries at the depot, and the agent said there was a tall man, in a gray ulster and with dark glasses, who took the 3.10 train this morning to the city, but he didn't notice him particularly. That was all I could learn."

      As the hour was late, the inquest was then adjourned until ten o'clock the next morning. Every one connected with the household at Fair Oaks was expected to remain on the premises that night; and, dinner over, the gentlemen, including Mr. Whitney, locked themselves within the large library to discuss the inevitable contest that would arise over the estate and to devise how, with the least possible delay, to secure possession of the property.

      Later in the evening Harry Scott

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