"Those who went in brave array
Return again at the close of day,
With banners that gay,
And swords now broken that once could ;
 
Their march is sad and slow.
 
 
"Oh, sorrow for those who could not die,
Who, lion-hearted, were forced to fly,
And now for ever in chains must lie;
For hark, there rises the terrible cry--
' to the , woe.'"
 
 
When Mrs. Belswin received a letter from Mr. Dombrain asking her to call, she was astonished, as she had thought her last interview with him would have pretty well resigned him to the loss of her society. But evidently he was now throwing down the of battle, so Mrs. Belswin, like an old war-horse at the sound of a , felt a certain at the thought of the coming fight, and lost no time in to the request of the .
 
What he wanted to see her about she could not imagine, unless it was to make another offer for the Pole Star shares, and as she had already set his mind at rest on that point, it seemed ridiculous to think that he would waste his time in trying to the impossible. She was now quite at ease in her own mind regarding money matters, as the hundred pounds she had obtained from Silas, together with what she already had in the bank, would enable her and Kaituna to live in comfort for the next three or four months in an economical way. Of course, she quite expected to be in possession of the other four hundred the next week, which would place them in until the report of Toby came home about the Pole Star shares, and judging from the offer made by Dombrain, Mrs. Belswin, with feminine acuteness, guessed that the shares were more valuable than they now appeared to be, so that their sale in a few months would realise a decent sum for Kaituna. If this turned out to be the case, Mrs. Belswin intended to persuade Kaituna to marry Archie at once, and the future of her child being thus secured, she cared little for herself. She could certainly marry herself, as both Ferrari and Belk were to her, but she despised the first for his in the matter of removing her husband, and the latter, in spite of his good looks, was of too lowly a station for her to think seriously of in any way.
 
Since her departure from Thornstream, Belk had written to her several times--ardent, letters, which showed plainly how deeply in love he was with her; and Mrs. Belswin could not but feel a thrill of pride at the thought of her own attractions, even at the mature age of forty-five. At present, however, she had more important things to think of than marriage, and drove along to Dombrain's office in a puzzled state of mind, trying to think of the reason why he wanted to see her, so that she could be prepared to hold her own.
 
That Silas had stolen a march on her she never for a moment dreamed; and had she guessed the real object of the interview sought by Mr. Dombrain, she would doubtless have felt somewhat ill at ease. As it was, however, she knew nothing; and thus, ignorance being , she walked boldly into the office, and took her accustomed seat with her usual air.
 
Dombrain himself was rather nervous, although he now assumed a manner towards the woman he was afraid of. She had held a power over him which had hitherto him from talking to her as he would have wished; but now he had discovered something about her life which gave him the advantage, and he to use his power to insult, , and crush her; in fact, treat her in the same way as she had hitherto treated him.
 
In spite of her violent temper, her foolish impulses, Mrs. Belswin was not without a certain amount of feminine cunning; and, as she was quite in the dark concerning the object of the interview, and, moreover, did not like the ill-concealed look of triumph on the part of the solicitor, she held her tongue, waiting for him to begin the attack, so that a chance word might afford her an opportunity of his .
 
"Well, Mrs. Belswin," said Dombrain, with a nasty grin on his coarse-looking face, "and how are you to-day, after your conduct in our last interview?"
 
Mrs. Belswin looked him up and down in a manner, which made him .
 
"I think I ought to ask that question," she said, disdainfully, "considering that I left you crushed, like the little you are."
 
"Oh, no. None of those compliments, if you please. Last time you had it all your own way; this time I have it all mine."
 
"Two can play at every game."
 
"Yes; but one generally holds . This time I hold trumps. Do you play cards, Mrs. Belswin? If so, you know that the game is to the player with the strongest hand."
 
"I congratulate you on your knowledge of . And may I ask what you are talking about?"
 
"All in good time, Mrs. Belswin--all in good time. First and foremost, I wish to know about your visit to Silas Oates. Ah! you start at that. You are not quite so confident as you were at our last interview."
 
"I think you are mistaken," replied Mrs. Belswin, coldly. "There can be nothing to interest you in my interview with Mr. Oates. If you fancy your knowledge that I called on him makes me afraid, you were never further from the truth in your life. I am not to be terrified by an ex-convict."
 
It was the old threat that had reduced Mr. Dombrain to silence; but now it appeared to have lost its power, for the ex-convict leaned back in his chair and laughed .
 
"People who live in glass houses should not throw stones."
 
"What do you mean?"
 
"Exactly what I say."
 
"You seem to have been at your private whiskey-bottle," said Mrs. Belswin, rising impatiently; "but as I am not in the mood to listen to your drunken ravings I will go."
 
"Oh, no, you won't. Of course you can if you like; but you had better hear what I have to say."
 
"I will give you five minutes," replied Mrs. Belswin, resuming her seat, "no more."
 
"That will be enough. Now, just listen to me. Mr. Oates has called, and informed me of your attempt to him. You have got one hundred pounds, and he says he will not give you any more."
 
"That is a question that has nothing to do with you, sir."
 
"Oh, yes, it has," retorted Dombrain, coolly. "He asked me to stop you from calling on him again, and I intend to do so."
 
Mrs. Belswin laughed long and loudly.
 
"Do you, indeed? And may I ask how you intend to stop me?"
 
Mr. Dombrain leaned across the desk, glanced round to make sure they were alone, then whispered slowly--
 
"By asking you how you killed your husband."
 
She sprang to her feet with a pale face, her eyes flashing fiercely.
 
"It's a lie! You know I had nothing to do with it."
 
"I'm afraid a jury wouldn't take that view if they heard my evidence."
 
"Your evidence! the evidence of a ."
 
"That's a pretty name, but instead of abusing me, you'd better look after yourself."
 
Mrs. Belswin sat down again and .
 
"I don't know what your object is in talking like this, but I will take it as a favour if you will let me know how you connect me with my late husband's death. You say I killed him. You hint you can prove it. That's a lie, because if that was the case I should be in prison now. No! No! Mr. Damberton, you are not the man to spare a woman."
 
"Certainly not you, who have made my life a hell for the last few months."
 
"We can exchange these compliments afterwards. First your story."
 
Dombrain, who was growing weary of all this fencing, lost no time in responding to this request, and began at once.
 
"As you know, I was staying at Thornstream on the night you arrived. Ostensibly, I had come down to see Sir Rupert on business, but my real was to see how you intended to meet him. You d............