It was indeed Lady Branwin who sat there, quiet and silent and immovable, gazing at the astonished company. Eddy¹, with a look of fear on his craven face, had sunk back into his chair the moment he had torn off the veil and had told the wonderful truth. The others could only stare and marvel² at the revelation. Audrey, womanlike, was the first to recover the use of her tongue, although Perry Toat--also womanlike--was on the point of breaking into speech.  
"Yes, you are my mother!" cried Audrey. "Yet I saw your face before at the Pink Shop. How was it I did not recognise you then?"
 
Lady Branwin, as it will be now convenient to call her, laid her finger on her right cheek. "You see, the birthmark of my sister Flora³ is not here," she said quietly; "for that reason you know me for certain. Even when the mark was there you thought I was your mother, because of the wonderful likeness⁴, and it was only the mark which made you change your mind."
 
"You painted the birthmark on your face?" said Miss Toat, who seemed as astonished as anyone at this extraordinary development. She had expected to learn much, but never that the woman supposed to be dead was still in the flesh and masquerading as Madame Coralie.
 
"Yes, I did," said the other, defiantly⁵, "for reasons which I am now about to tell you. I was nearly discovered by Audrey when my yashmak was torn off in the alcove⁶ of the shop, and I half believed and half wished that her instinct would tell her the truth. But her father had mentioned my sister to her, and she was, therefore, prepared to believe that I was her aunt when I told her that I and Flora were twins."
 
"And were you twins?" demanded Ralph, quickly.
 
"Yes," said Lady Branwin, coolly. "In face and figure we were exactly alike, though not in mind, as Flora was always the clever one. Perhaps I may have been a trifle prettier, as the birthmark disfigured Flora--Joseph always said that I was. But Flora's mark was not nearly so dark as this"--she touched her cheek. "Oh, I forgot, I have washed it off."
 
"Why did you do that?" asked Perry Toat, quickly. "Did you come here to declare your real name and explain?"
 
"Yes and no. I came prepared to put aside my veil and show my real face, according to what took place. Eddy has taken me by surprise. But you can now understand, Audrey"--she addressed herself to her daughter--"how it was that the birthmark and my story deceived you."
 
"Yes," said Mrs. Shawe, faintly, and sitting down by her husband to cling to him as if for protection. "And I really believed you; your manner was so different from your true one."
 
"I acted a part, my dear, and, although I say it myself, I acted it very well, as all of you must admit."
 
"You wouldn't have kept your secret so long had you not worn the yashmak," Ralph ventured to remark.
 
"Perhaps not. The yashmak was a very good mask. I often wondered why Flora wore it, if not for business purposes; as her birthmark was not so disfiguring as the one which I painted on my face."
 
"It was very faint," said Colonel Ilse, speaking for the first time, and in his crisp, military voice--"over twenty years ago, that is. But then Mrs. Askew⁷, as she called herself, was a much younger woman."
 
"And not so fat," supplemented Lady Branwin, calmly. "Yes, I remember Flora then. After she left Bleakleigh as a widow she tried many ways in which to make money. I told you some of them, Audrey, although I don't think that I mentioned she had been an hospital nurse."
 
"And for an obvious reason," put in Perry Toat, in an acrid⁸ voice. The little woman was annoyed that her search for the hospital nurse had ended in this unexpected way. "You were afraid."
 
"Why should I be afraid?" demanded Lady Branwin, coolly. "It was Flora who kidnapped Colonel Ilse's daughter, not I. She told me all about it, and did so out of jealousy⁹. She was in love with the Colonel."
 
"I certainly was not in love with her," said the soldier, stiffly, and the flush which Audrey had noticed on a former occasion appeared on his tanned face. "She made my life a burden to me, and finally took away my own child. I was left lonely," added Ilse, pathetically, "as my dear wife died when Elsie was born. Perhaps, Lady Branwin, you can tell me what your sister did with my child."
 
"I can tell you many things which will astonish you," said the unmasked woman, drily, "and I intend to. Perhaps had this fool"--she shot a glance of scorn and wrath¹⁰ at the unhappy Vail--"not torn off my veil I would not have revealed myself. But you can see from the fact that I have washed off the pretended birthmark that I intended to do so if it were necessary. I now see that it is very necessary."
 
"I think it is," said Perry Toat, sharply, "as we have yet to learn who murdered Madame Coralie."
 
"Are you going to accuse me of the crime? Why not accuse Eddy here, who put back the still-room clock?"
 
Vail became violently emotional. "I put it back because I intended to return and steal the diamonds," he said loudly. "I don't mind owning that, as I have already told the story to Miss Toat. But when I came back after you turned me out of the house and found that my wife was strangled, I--"
 
"Your wife?" interrupted Ralph, suddenly. "How could you think it was your wife who was dead when she--as you thought, I presume--had just dismissed you from the still-room."
 
"I did not think that the dead woman was my wife," said Eddy, sullenly¹¹. "I knew that there was a resemblance between my wife and Lady Branwin, as Flora had long since told me that they were twins. But I saw the birthmark on my wife's face, comparatively faint as it was."
 
"Then you knew all the time that Lady Branwin was masquerading as Madame Coralie?" demanded Perry Toat, much mortified¹², for she saw that this foolish, effeminate little creature had tricked her.
 
"Yes, because she threatened to say that I had killed Flora."
 
"And because I gave you my diamonds," retorted Lady Branwin.
 
"You went half shares," snapped Eddy, crossly. "I didn't make half as much out of the business as I expected. I held my tongue and allowed my wife to be buried as you, because I knew that by putting back the still-room clock I laid myself open to having committed the crime. But I am perfectly¹³ innocent, and you know it."
 
"Permit me to speak," said Lady Branwin, in harsh, hard tones, which recalled more than ever her assumption of her sister's character. "I intend to explain everything and to clear up the mystery."
 
"Do you wish me to go?" asked Colonel Ilse, rising. "As you are not Mrs. Askew, and cannot tell me where my child is, I don't want to stay."
 
"I think you had better stay," said Lady Branwin, without wincing¹⁴. "I told you before that I have much to say. I am tired of myself and tired of my life. I was unhappy as the wife of Sir Joseph, who always treated me in a most brutal¹⁵ fashion, and I am still more unhappy masquerading as my sister. I have to put up with the blackmailing¹⁶ and insolence¹⁷ of this beast." And Lady Branwin pointed¹⁸ an accusing finger at Eddy, who shrank in his chair.
 
"You had better take care," he threatened, looking white-faced and cowardly, "for although I have told much, I can tell more."
 
"There is no need for you to tell anything," said Lady Branwin, scornfully, "since I am capable of revealing everything."
 
"Perhaps," said Perry Toat, looking at her watch, "you had better get on with your story. It is growing late."
 
"I shall tell my story when it suits me," snarled¹⁹ Lady Branwin, turning on her savagely²¹. "I am no longer the timid fool that I was. I am hard, I tell you; hard and determined²² in every way. Now don't say a word," she went on, imperiously throwing up her hand; "let me talk. When I finish, you can make your comments. Not that it matters to me what any of you say."
 
"Mother," said Audrey, imploringly²³, and strove to take Lad............