Chetney's arrival last night turned them into waste paper. You were
suddenly in debt for thousands of pounds--for much more than you could
ever possibly pay. No one knew that you and your brother had met at
Madame Zichy's. But you knew that your father was not expected to
outlive the night, and that if your brother were dead also, you would
be saved from complete ruin, and that you would become the Marquis of
Edam.'

"'Oh, that is how you have worked it out, is it?' Arthur cried. 'And
for me to become Lord Edam was it necessary that the woman should die,
too!'

"'They will say,' Lyle answered, 'that she was a witness to the murder
--that she would have told.'

"'Then why did I not kill the servant as well!' Arthur said.

"'He was asleep, and saw nothing.'

"'And you believe _that?_' Arthur demanded.

"'It is not a question of what I believe,' Lyle said gravely. 'It is a
question for your peers.'

"'The man is insolent!' Arthur cried. 'The thing is monstrous!
Horrible!'

"Before we could stop him he sprang out of his cot and began pulling
on his clothes. When the nurses tried to hold him down, he fought with
them.