Am I to
proceed?"
Seton paused, glancing at his audience; and:
"If you please," whispered Rita. "Monte knows and I know--why--she
killed him. But we don't know--"
"The nasty details," said Quentin Gray. "Carry on, Seton. Are you
agreeable, Irvin?"
"I am anxious to know," replied Irvin, "for I believe Sir Lucien
deserved well of me, bad as he was."
Seton clapped his hands, and an Egyptian servant appeared, silently
and mysteriously as is the way of his class.
"Cocktails, Mahmoud!"
The Egyptian disappeared.
"There's just time," declared Margaret, gazing out across the
prospect, "before sunset."
CHAPTER XLIII
THE STORY OF THE CRIME
"You are all aware," Seton continued, "that Sir Lucien Pyne was an
admirer of Mrs. Irvin. God knows, I hold no brief for the man, but
this love of his was the one redeeming feature of a bad life. How and
when it began I don't profess to know, but it became the only pure
thing which he possessed. That he was instrumental in introducing you,
Mrs. Irvin, to the unfortunately prevalent drug habit, you will not
deny; but that he afterwards tried sincerely to redeem you from it I
can positively affirm. In seeking your redemption he found his own,
for I know that he was engaged at the time of his death in extricating
himself from the group.
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