The body of the detective lay, by chance, lengthwise along the mat at the foot of the stairs. In order to reach the hall, therefore, Juana had no alternative but to step over the prone figure. This she did unhesitatingly, and then turned to Richard.

‘Carry the poor fellow upstairs, will you?’ she asked quietly. ‘He is delirious. The room overhead.’

Richard obeyed. The small, light frame of the detective gave him no trouble. At the top of the stairs he met Mrs. Bridget hastening towards him.

‘Holy Virgin!’ she exclaimed. ‘I did but run down by the backstairs to the kitchen and left the spalpeen with Miss Juana, and when I came back to them the room was as empty as my pocket.’

‘He got a bit wild,’ Richard explained. ‘I suppose his head is affected. Miss Juana is talking with her father. Where is Miss Teresa?’

‘Sure, she’s gone out to the mares. They must have their water, if every soul of us was dying.’

Richard carefully laid Nolan on the bed in the room over the porch. By this time the sufferer had recovered consciousness. He murmured a few meaningless strings of words, then sighed.

‘I will leave him with you,’ said Richard.

‘Not alone! If he begins to kick out——’

‘He’s quite quiet now,’ said Richard, closing the door behind him.

Richard was extremely anxious to be present, as he had a sort of right to be, at the conversation between Raphael Craig and Juana. He descended the stairs with such an air of deliberation as he could assume, and stood hesitatingly at the foot. He felt like an interloper, an eavesdropper, one who is not wanted, but, indeed, there was no other place for him to put himself into, unless it might be the kitchen; for the drawing-room lamp was extinguished, and the lamp in the dining-room had not been lighted.

Juana had approached her father, who still sat on the oak chest. She bent slightly towards him, like a figure of retribution, or menace, or sinister prophecy. Richard noticed the little wisps of curls in the nape of her neck. She was still dressed in her riding-habit, but the lengthy skirt had been fastened up by means of a safety-pin. Richard could not be sure whether father or daughter had so much as observed his presence in the hall.

‘I’ll stay where I am,’ he thought. ‘I’m a member of the family now, and it is my business to know all the family secrets.’

For at least thirty seconds Juana uttered no word. Then she said, in a low vibrating voice:

‘Why do you tell me to go, father?’

‘Did I not say to you last year,’ the old man replied, ‘that if you left me you must leave me for ever?’

‘You abide by that?’ the girl demanded.

‘I abide by it,’ said Raphael Craig.

Like a flash, Juana swept round and faced Richard, and he at once perceived that she had been aware of his presence.

‘Mr. Redgrave,’ she said, with head in air, and nostrils dilated, ‘Teresa has just told me that at my father’s—er—suggestion you and she have become engaged to be married.’

‘That is so,’ said Richard politely. ‘May we hope for your congratulations?’

She ignored the remark.

‘Do you know whom you are marrying?’ she asked curtly.

‘I am under the impression that I am about to marry the daughter of Mr. Raphael Craig, manager of the Kilburn branch of the British and Scottish Bank.’

‘You are about to do nothing of the sort,’ said Juana. ‘Mr. Raphael Craig has no daughter. Teresa and myself, I may explain to you, are twin-sisters, though I have the misfortune to look much the older. We have always passed as the daughters of Mr. Craig, We have always called him father. Teresa still thinks him her father. It was only recently that I discovered——’

‘Juana,’ the old man interrupted, ‘have you, too, got hold of the wild tale? It is astonishing how long a falsehood, an idle rumour, will survive and flourish.’

‘There is no falsehood, no idle rumour,’ said Juana coldly; ‘and I think it proper that Mr. Redgrave should know all that I know.’

‘It will make no difference whatever to me,’ said Richard, ‘whose daughter Teresa may be. ‘It is herself, and not her ancestors, that I shall have the honour of marrying.’

‘Still,’ said Juana, ‘do you not think that you ought to know Teresa’s history?’

‘Decidedly,’ said Richard.

With an embittered glance at her father, Juana resumed:

‘Some time ago, Mr. Redgrave, a difficulty between Mr. Craig and myself led to my leaving this house. I was the merest girl, but I left. I was too proud to stay. I had a mare of my own, whom I had trained to do a number of tricks. I could ride as well as most. Bosco’s circus happened to be in the neighbourhood. I conceived the wild idea of applying for a situation in the circus. Only a girl utterly inexperienced in life would have dreamt of such a thing. The circus people had me performing for them, and they engaged me. On the whole I lived a not unhappy existence. I tell you this only to account for my presence not long since in Limerick.’

‘Limerick!’ exclaimed Raphael Craig in alarm. ‘You have been there?’

Juana continued calmly:

‘The circus travelled in Ireland, and eventually came to Limerick. I knew that Limerick was my mother’s home, and I began to make inquiries. I found out that my sister and I were born previous to Mr. Craig’s marriage with my mother. She had been married before, or she had, at least, been through the ceremony of marriage with another man—a man unknown, who came suddenly into her life and as suddenly went out of it. You will gather, then, that Mr. Craig is not our father, and that he has no authority over us.’

‘Redgrave,’ muttered Raphael Craig, ‘I tell you the poor girl is mad.’

Juana resumed quietly:

‘I must inform you of another thing. While in Limerick and the district I met this Nolan, the detective. He had another name there. I know now, from what my sister has told me, that he must have been investigating the early history of my mother, and my real and false fathers, for some purpose of the police. But I judge him as I found him. He was very kind to me once, and I liked him. He was the personification of good-nature and good temper. When our ways parted he expressed the certain hope that we should meet again. We have met again, under circumstances extremely painful. He has not yet recognised me. You may ask, father,’ she went on, turning to Raphael Craig, ‘why I came back to your house to-day. There were two reasons. It is three months since I learnt about my parentage, and during the whole of that time I have been debating with myself whether or not to come and have it out with you. I inclined more and more to having a clear understanding, not only for my own sake, but for Teresa’s. Then, the second reason, the circus folk had begun to talk. There were jealousies, of course; and the rumour that my birth was surrounded by doubtful mysteries somehow got afoot in the tents. I decided to leave. Here I am. I came prepared for peace; but you, father, have decided otherwise. I shall leave to-morrow morning, We have no claim on each other. Mr. Redgrave, that is all I have to say.’

She ceased.

Richard bowed, and looked expectantly towards the old man, but the old man said nothing.

‘I have the right to ask you, sir,’ said Richard, ‘for your version of what Miss Juana has just told us.’

‘We will talk of that to-morrow,’ answered the old man testily. ‘We will talk of that to-morrow.’

‘It is already to-morrow,’ said Juana scornfully.

There was a sudden tremendous racket overhead. A scream could be heard from Bridget, and a loud, confused chattering from Nolan. The latter rushed violently half-way downstairs, his eyes burning, Mrs. Bridget after him.