"De Mortuis"--you know the phrase, I think;
A saying, such as poor humanity
Mutters at times when talking of the dead;
Therefore, I pray you, speak not any ill
Of this poor soul who suffered, sinned, and died,
Seeing her sinning brought her but to this;
Yourself when gone may need a pitying word,
When all your with you are entombed, And but sins to curse your name.
 
 
So it was Dombrain, after all, who had committed this crime, and, by accusing Mrs. Belswin of the murder, placed her life in , in order both to revenge and save himself. Had it not been for the unexpected evidence of Samson Belk, without doubt the unhappy woman would have been found guilty, and suffered in the place of the Mr. Dombrain. When this ex-lawyer, ex-convict, and constant blackguard heard himself accused of the crime, he slipped out of the court and vanished before he could be arrested, knowing that he could make no defence.
 
Part of his evidence was true, for he had been in the drawing-room, he had seen Mrs. Belswin enter the study, but here his truth ceased and his lies began. Fearing lest his name should be mentioned by the infuriated woman during the interview, which would be sure to end in the of Mrs. Belswin the lawyer, trembling for his respectable position, went to his bedroom and took his air-pistol, so as to be prepared for emergencies. It is but fair to Mr. Dombrain to say that he had no intention of using the weapon unless everything was lost; so, creeping out of the house, he placed himself beside the open window of the study, in order to hear what Mrs. Belswin would say.
 
In accordance with his expectations, she did tell Sir Rupert all about him, and when Dombrain heard the declaration of the baronet that he would denounce him, he knew that all was lost, and that the sin of his early youth was going to cost him the respectable position of his middle age. When Mrs. Belswin, thrust by her unforgiving husband, fled out into the night, Dombrain, trembling, sick at heart at seeing all that made his life worth living vanish, still beside the window, and here Sir Rupert, who had come out to make sure that his divorced wife had taken herself off, found him.
 
Then an interview between the lawyer and the baronet took place, in which the latter swore to reveal all the of Dombrain, and have him struck off the rolls. In vain the wretched man pleaded for mercy. Coldly and the baronet thrust him out of doors, the same way he had done his wife; and then mad with anger at the terrible future before him, Dombrain shot Sir Rupert, in the manner described by Belk in the witness-box. After committing the crime and assuring himself that his victim was dead, he coolly stepped across the body, and took refuge in his own room, from whence he did not emerge for the rest of the night. It was true, as he said, that his room was near the head of the staircase, for he saw Mrs. Belswin leave the study as he described, so it was then that the idea came into his head to secure himself by sacrificing her, and thus both save and revenge himself at one time.
 
On leaving the court after having been denounced by Belk, his rage against all the world for his revenge and his position knew no bounds. He had no idea of escaping justice, but before he was seized to punish the woman who had--as he believed--dragged him down even lower than his former position. Then he had simply money, but now he had committed a crime for which he would lose his life; and thus, seeing that his was , he determined that Mrs. Belswin should suffer for placing him in such a perilous position.
 
With this idea in his head, he took the air-pistol with which he had killed Sir Rupert, and went to the of the dead man's daughter and Mrs. Belswin. managing to the notice of the servant, he ensconced himself behind the curtains in the drawing-room, and shot the unhappy woman as described. At first, knowing how bitter it would be to Mrs. Belswin, he had intended to kill Kaituna, but the unexpected action of the mother had saved the daughter from a terrible death. Satisfied with his work, Dombrain thre............