"Herbert."

"Herbert!" Austin repeated the word, dazed with
astonishment.

"Yes, Mrs. Herbert of Paul Street, Helen Vaughan of
earlier adventures unknown to me. You had reason to recognize
the expression of her face; when you go home look at the face
in Meyrick's book of horrors, and you will know the sources of
your recollection."

"And you have proof of this?"

"Yes, the best of proof; I have seen Mrs. Beaumont, or
shall we say Mrs. Herbert?"

"Where did you see her?"

"Hardly in a place where you would expect to see a lady
who lives in Ashley Street, Piccadilly. I saw her entering a
house in one of the meanest and most disreputable streets in
Soho. In fact, I had made an appointment, though not with her,
and she was precise to both time and place."

"All this seems very wonderful, but I cannot call it
incredible. You must remember, Villiers, that I have seen this
woman, in the ordinary adventure of London society, talking and
laughing, and sipping her coffee in a commonplace drawing-room
with commonplace people. But you know what you are saying."