ThetialIvahedoorandusheredinandantNeilO'Brien，whomhehadfoundatlastpagthegardenagain。
TheIrishofficerstoodupdisorderedaohreshold。"Whatdoyouwa;hecried。
"Pleasesitdown，"saidValenti，levelto;Why，youaren&#yoursword。Whereisit?"
"Ileftitonthelibrarytable。"saidO'Brien，hisbroguedeepeninginhisdisturbedmood。"Itwasawasgetting-"
"Ivan，"saidValentin，"pleasegoaheandant'sswordfromthelibrary。"Theva;Lallowaysayshesawyouleavingthegardenjustbeforehefoundthecorpse。Whatwereyoudoinginthegarden?"
Theandantflunghimselfrecklesslyintoachair。"Oh，"hepureIrish，&quthemoon。uningwith;
Aheavysilendetheendofitthattrivialandterribleknog。Ivanreappeared，gaeelscabbard。"ThisisallId。"hesaid。
"Putitoable。"saidValentin，withoutlookingup。
Therewasaninhumaheroom，likethatseaofinhumahedockoftheurderer。TheDuchess'sweakexshadlongagodiedaway。Lalloway'sswolleisfiedandevehevoicethatcamewasquiteued。
"IthinkItellyou。"criedLadyMargaret，inthatclear，quiverihwhichaanspeakspublicly。"ItellyouwhatMrO'Brienwasdoinginthegarden，sinceheisboundtosilence。Hewasaskiomarryhim。Irefused;IsaidinmyfamilycesIcouldgivehimnothingbutmyrespect。Hewasalittleangryatthat，hedidhinkmuyrespeder，"sheadded，withratherawa;ifhewillcareatallforitnow。ForIofferithimnoearahehihis。"
Lallowayhadedgeduptohisdaughter，andwasintimidatiheimagiobeao;Hue，Maggie。"hesaidinathunderouswhisper。"Whyshouldyoushieldthefellow?Where'shissword?Where'shisdedcavalry-"
&oppedbecauseofthesingularstarewithwhichhisdaughterwasregardinghim，alookthatwasindeedaluridmaghewholegroup。
"Youoldfool!"shesaidinalowvoicewithoutprete;whatdoyousupptoprove?Itellyouthismanwasiwhilewithme。Butifhewasn'ti，hewasstillwithme。Ifhemurderedamaninthegarden，homusthaveseen-whomustatleasthaveknown?DoyouhateNeilsomuchasthter-"
LadyGallowayscreamed。Everyoingliouchofthosesatahavebeeweenloversbeforeheproud，whitefaceoftheScotcharistodherlover，theIrishadventurer，likeoldportraitsinadarkhouse。Thelongsilencewasfullofformlesshistoriurderedhusbandsandpoisonousparamours。
Ihismorbidsilenotvoicesaid:"Wasitaverylongcigar?"
Thegeofthoughtthattheyhadtolookroundtoseeoken。
"Imean，"saidlittleFatherBrown，fromtheeroftheroom，"ImeanthatcigarMrBrayneisfinishing。Itseemsnearlyaslongasawalking-stick。"
&heirrelevaherewasassentaswellasirritatioin'sfaceasheliftedhishead。
&quht，"heremarkedsharply，"Ivan，goaMrBrayneagain，andbrio;
&thefahadclosedthedoor，Valehegirlwithairelyness。
"LadyMargaret，"hesaid，"weallfeel，Iamsure，bothgratitudeandadmirationforyourarisingaboveynityandexplainingtheandant'sduct。Butthereisahiatusstill。Lalloway，Iuayoupassingfromthestudyt-room，anditwasoesafterwardsthathefoundthegardenandtheandantstillwalki;
"Youhavetoremember，"repliedMargaret，withafaintironyinhervoice，"thatIhadjustrefusedhim，soweshouldscarcelyhaveebaarm。Heisagentleman，anyhow，aeredbehind-andsedwithmurder。"
"Is，"saidVale;hemightreally-"
Theknock，andIvanputinhisscarredface。
"Begpardon，sir，"hesaid，"butMrBrayhehouse。"
"Left!"criedValentin，ahefirsttimetohisfeet。
"Goed。Evaporated，"repliedIvaninhumorousFrench。"Hishatandcooo，andI'lltellyousomethingtocapitall。Irahehousetofindanytra，andIfoundone，andabigtrace，too。"
"Whatdoyoumean?"askedValentin。
"I'llshowyou，"saidhisservant，ahaflashingnakedcavalrysabre，streakedwithbloodaboutthepointandedge。Everyoheroomeyeditasifitwereathutheexperienwentoly:
"Ifoundthis，"hesaid，"flungamongthebushesfiftyyardsuptheroadtoParis。Inotherwords，IfounditjustwhereyourrespectableMrBraywhenheranaway。"
Therewasagaiofa。Valentintookthesabre，examiedwithurationofthought，aurfulfacetoO'Brien。"andant，"hesaid，"wetrustyouroducethisonifitiswantedforpoliation。Mea;headded，slappieelbatheringingscabbard，"letmereturnyouyoursword。"
Atthemilitarysymbolismoftheatheaudiencecouldhardlyrefrainfromapplause。
ForNeilO'Briegesturewastheturning-poiehetimehewaswahemysteriaininthethetragicfutilityofhisordinarymienhadfallenfromhim;hewasamanwithmanyreasonsforhappiness。Lallowaywasagentleman，andhadofferedhimanapology。LadyMargaretwassomethihanalady，awoma，andhadperhapsgiveterthananapology，astheydriftedamongtheoldflowerbedsbeforebreakfast。Thewholepanywasmhtheartedahoughtheriddleofthedeathremaiheloadofsuspiwasliftedoffthemall，aflyingofftoPariswiththestrangemillioheyhardlykhedevilwascastoutofthehouse-hehadcasthimselfout。
Still，theriddleremained;andwhenO'BrienthrewhimselfobesideDrSimon，thatkeeifiato。HedidalkoutofO'Brieswereohings。
"I'tsayitismemuch，"saidtheIrishmanfrankly，"especiallyasitseemsprettyplainnoarentlyBrayrangerforsomereasoothegarden，ahmysword。Thehecity，tossingtheswordawayashewent。Bytheway，IvahedeadmanhadaYankeedollarinhispocket。SohewasaanofBrayne's，aochit。Idon'tseeanydifficultiesaboutthebusi;