"You say 'twas I! Indeed, sir, 'tis not so; My hands are innocent of this man's blood.
, never fear! I pardon what you say;
Your is misled by false report.
Why! if you the idle tongues that wag,
There's not an honest man would 'scape the law;
For every act bears two interpretations--
One good, one bad--so that our enemies
Use that which fits in best with their desires,
As evil witness 'gainst our true intents."
 
 
There is no doubt that sharpens the wits of all, therefore Mrs. Belswin, in her interview with the Italian, proved herself such an able diplomatist, that after some difficulty she obtained what she wanted. According, therefore, to the arrangement she made with Ferrari, he was to tell Maxwell as much as possible of his doings at Deswarth without mentioning the name of Mrs. Belswin.
 
On first hearing of Maxwell's , Ferrari wanted to fly, as he plainly said it would be difficult for him to defend himself against such a charge, although he swore on the crucifix that he was innocent. Mrs. Belswin him from this course, as she out, that if he acknowledged the truth of the accusation by flight, Maxwell would immediately inform the police, and he would be arrested before he could leave England. On the contrary, however, if he faced the charge boldly, and explained the presence of the diamond scarf-pin on the terrace to the satisfaction of the young man, he would not only by doing so clear his own character, but might possibly lead to the capture of the true criminal.
 
Ferrari agreed, therefore, to grant the interview desired by Maxwell, and tell the truth without betraying Mrs. Belswin's true position towards the dead man in any way; but during this very curious conversation, both the man and the woman asked each other the same question, "Are you guilty?" Mrs. Belswin solemnly swore that she was innocent, and told Ferrari the same story as she had told Dombrain concerning her doings on that night. This explanation satisfied the Italian, and then in response to Mrs. Belswin's question as to his , he gave an account of how he had passed the night.
 
"After you departed, carissima," he said, volubly, "I went to seek you, but the time was darkness. Cospetto! how black. I knew not the villaggio, so I returned to the osteria in one few minutes."
 
"Were you in the hotel before eleven?" demanded Mrs. Belswin, artfully.
 
"Cara mia, you fled at ten hours. I went. I came back at ten and ten. So I could not have killed Il Marito."
 
Mrs. Belswin believed this story, as had he been out longer the landlord would certainly have talked about it, and Ferrari would have been arrested at once on suspicion. As it was she felt quite satisfied that he was innocent; and having thus come to a complete understanding with him, she departed.
 
Mrs. Belswin, therefore, declared that she was innocent.
 
Ferrari also declared his innocence.
 
If this were the case who was guilty?
 
Ah! that was to be revealed the next day to Archie Maxwell.
 
True to his promise the young man called for Mrs. Belswin at eleven o'clock the following morning; and after a short interview with Kaituna, to whom he talked on the most indifferent subjects, he departed with the companion. Mrs. Belswin was fearfully pale, as all her future depended upon the caution observed by Ferrari; and she was afraid lest, carried away by his southern nature, the Italian should reveal more than was desirable to Maxwell. She was not afraid of being accused of the crime, as Dombrain alone could give evidence as to her being in the room after the murder; and she had a perfect understanding with him; but she was terribly afraid of Maxwell's finding out her true relationship to Kaituna, in which case she would certainly lose the companionship of her child, to retain which she had fought so hard.
 
Maxwell was also somewhat , as in spite of his desire to think the best of Mrs. Belswin, all her conduct, her , her equivocations, appeared so mysterious that he was forced to believe that she knew more than she chose to tell. Her conduct, however, in conducting him to a personal interview with Ferrari, was one argument in her favour, for it never for a moment struck this simple-minded young man that she had in any way prepared the ground beforehand. Perfectly honest and in himself, Maxwell foolishly supposed all other human beings to possess the same desirable qualities; and, in the hands of two practised diplomatists, like the Italian and Mrs. Belswin, he could not possibly hold his own. His life had always been a perfectly open one, and although he was not rich, he had never been put to any shifts for money in any way, consequently his wits had grown somewhat from want of exercise. Mrs. Belswin and her friend, however, had led a reckless Bohemian existence, which called for craft, courage, coolness and , in a very high degree; therefore they were competent in with a delicate affair like the present, which required subtle management. Still, a blundering blue-bottle often breaks the web by the spider; so Mrs. Belswin feared lest the straightforward honesty of the young man should rush through all her careful schemes, and by sheer boldness arrive at the truth.
 
On their arrival at Ferrari's he was already waiting for them, and Mrs. Belswin having introduced him to Archie, the three sat down to talk. It was a fencing match, and the third fencer was Maxwell, who not only had two opponents against him, but those same opponents were gifted with powers of attack and parry of which he was completely ignorant.
 
"You speak English, I see," said Archie to Ferrari, after the first greetings had passed.
 
"Certainly, signor," replied the Italian, showing his white teeth. "I have been long from Italy? Oh, yes. The estates of America."
 
"Where I had the pleasure of meeting Signor Ferrari," observed Mrs. Belswin, ceremoniously.
 
At this the signor bowed, but made no remark, so Maxwell, seeing that he would not commit himself to speech unless questioned, began at once on the main object of the interview.
 
"Mrs. Belswin, I presume, told you I wished to see you, Signor Ferrari?"
 
The Italian bowed.
 
"About an article of jewellery belonging to you?"
 
Ferrari bowed again.
 
"Which was found on the terrace at Thornstream, the residence of the late Sir Rupert Pethram?"
 
The signor bowed for the third time and Maxwell, hot-blooded in all things, began to lose his temper at this silence.
 
"Well, sir," he said, sharply, "perhaps you will be kind enough to inform me how this scarf-pin came to be on the terrace in question."
 
"One moment," said Ferrari, politely lifting his hand. "Will you tell me who found what you have?"
 
Maxwell hesitated a moment, but seeing no reason why he should the part Mrs. Belk had taken in the affair, out boldly.
 
"A woman you don't know--Mrs. Belk."
 
"Dio!"
 
"Great Heavens!"
 
These ejaculations proceeded, the first from Ferrari, the second from Mrs. Belswin, and in hearing them Maxwell looked suspiciously from the one to the other.
 
"You seem surprised."
 
&qu............