"And the rest?" she asked hoarsely, in a low voice.
"You know the rest, Aline," I said. "You know that the name of that man
was John Yelverton, and that the woman of evil was yourself, Aline
Cloud. You have no need to inquire of me."
"How did you know?" she gasped, trembling.
"That matters not," I replied, in as calm a tone as I could. "Suffice
it to know that I have knowledge of the truth."
"And you know my lover?"
"He is one of my oldest friends," I answered. "He fled from you, but by
your devilish ingenuity you discovered him and sought him out in the
remote village where he had hidden himself. You travelled from London,
and he was compelled to meet you clandestinely out upon the high road.
By the evil spell you have cast upon him you are now hoping that he will
return to London."
"And if I am?" she inquired, with a sudden boldness.
"If you are, then you may at once give up all hope that he will still
remain your lover," I answered firmly. "When I have told him of the
truth he will hate you with the same hatred in which he holds the Evil
ONE."
"What, then, do you intend telling him?" she inquired.
"He is my friend, as Roddy Morgan was," I answered. "The latter died
mysteriously under circumstances which were undoubtedly known to you,
and I have resolved that John Yelverton shall not suffer at your hands."
"I do not intend that he should suffer!" she cried quickly. "I love
him. I will be his helpmate, his adviser, his protector. I confess to
you that I love him with as great an affection as I can love anything on
earth."
"Did you not tell me once that even though you might love, your
influence must nevertheless necessarily be that of evil?"
"Yes, yes, I know," she said. "The baneful power I possess is not of my
own seeking. I suppress it so that it may not injure him."
"This mysterious power of yours injured poor Roddy. You cannot deny
that," I cried.
She sighed, but made no answer. Her thin hands were clenched; she was
desperate.
"Yelverton knows nothing of your inexplicable potency for the working of
evil. But he must--he shall know."
"He will not believe you!" she cried defiantly. "You may tell him what
you choose, but it cannot alter the love between us."
"Not if I prove that you were responsible for Roddy Morgan's death--that
it was you who visited him during his valet's absence?"
In an instant she grew pale as death, and stood there quivering in fear.
Her defiance had given place to abject terror, and she dared not utter
a word lest she should betray herself. Holding her in suspicion, as I
did, I was quick to note the slightest wavering, to detect the least
fear as expressed in her flawlessly beautiful countenance.
"You may make whatever allegation you think fit," she responded, in a
harsh tone. "It makes no difference. The man who loves me will not
heed you."
"But he shall!" I cried, in anger. "I will not allow him to be
victimised as poor Roddy was. Your very words betray you!" I burst
forth again. "When you allege that he committed suicide six months
before he died in London you lie!"
"I have spoken the truth," she answered, meeting my gaze with a calmness
which seemed incredible. "Some day, perhaps, you will have proof."
"Why may not proof be given me now?" I demanded. "Why cannot you
explain all, and end this mystery?"
"It is impossible."
"Impossible!" I cried. "Nonsense! You seek to conceal your evil deeds
beneath a cloak of improbabilities, and fancy I am sufficiently
credulous to believe them!"
"Surely heated argument is useless," she observed. "I love a man who is
your friend, and you love a woman who is mine. Plainly speaking, our
interests are identical, are they not? Your love is in hiding. She had
a reason for fleeing from you, just as my lover's religious views caused
him to endeavour to escape me. He knew me not, or he would not have
endeavoured to hide himself from me. You, who know me better, are aware
that from me there is no escape; that I spare not my enemies nor those
who hate me. Before my touch men and things wither as grass cast into
an oven."
"True, I love Muriel," I said. "She is in hiding, and you, if you will,
can direct me to where she is." Aline, the mysterious handmaiden of
evil, paused. Her full breast rose beneath her thin summer bodice and
fell slowly, and for an instant her well-arched brows were knit as she
thought deeply.
"Yes," she answered at length. "Your surmise is correct. I am aware
where your love has concealed herself."
"Little escapes you," I observed, a strange feeling of terror creeping
over me. "Sin is always more powerful than righteousness, and cunning
more invincible than honesty of purpose. Why will you not impart to me
the knowledge that I seek, and tell me where I may find Muriel? As you
have very truly said, our interests are identical. I am ready to make
any compact with you, in return for your assistance."
"Very well," she answered quickly, with a little undue eagerness, I
thought. Then, fixing me again with her eyes, she said: "Once you gave
yourself to me body and soul and implored me to love you. But I spurned
you--not because I entertained any affection for you, but for the sake
of the one woman who loved you--Muriel Moore."
"Then you knew Muriel?" I interrupted quickly, in an endeavour to at
least clear up that single fact.
"No," she answered, "I did not know her. A reader of the heart, I was,
however, aware that she was madly enamoured of you, therefore I was
frank enough to urge you to reciprocate her love, and thus obtain
felicity. Well, she has hidden herself from you, but you shall find her
on one condition--namely, that you render yourself passive in my hands--
that you give yourself entirely to me."
"What do you mean?" I gasped, holding back instinctively and glaring at
her. "Are you the Devil himself that you should make this proposal
which in the mediaeval legend Mephistopheles made to Faust?"
"My intentions are of no concern," she responded, in a strange voice
like one speaking afar off. "Will you, or will you not accept my
conditions?"
"But to give myself to you when I love another is impossible!" I
protested.
"I make this demand not in any spirit of coquetry," she replied. "That
you should be mine, body and soul, is necessary, in order that you
should preserve the silence which is imperative."
"To put it plainly you desire, in return for the service you will render
me, that I should utter no word to your lover of my suspicions?" I
said, gradually grasping her meaning.
Again the glint of evil seemed to shine from those blue eyes, which
changed their hue with every humour.
"Exactly," she answered, her slim fingers nervously twisting the golden
chain of her lorgnette. "But you must become mine, to do as I bid and
act entirely as I direct," she declared. "Unless you give me your word
of honour to do this there can be no agreement between us. Remember
that your silence will be for our mutual benefit, for I shall remain
happy while you will gain the woman you love."
For a single moment only I hesitated. But one thought was in my mind,
that of Muriel. At all costs I felt that I must discover her, for her
disappearance had driven me to distraction. Never before had I known
what it really was to love, or the blankness that falls upon a man when
the woman he adores has suddenly gone out of his life. I may have been
foolish, nay, I knew I was; nevertheless, in the sudden helplessness
that was upon me, I turned and answered--
"I am ready to do as you wish."
Next instant I held my breath, and the perspiration broke forth upon my
brow when I realised that my great love for Muriel had led me into an
abyss of evil. Heedless of the dire consequences which must follow, I
had flung myself into the toils of this mysterious woman whom I held in
fear; a woman whose very touch was sacrilegious, and who was more
fiendish than human in her delights and hates.
"Then it is agreed," she said in that strange voice which had several
times impressed me so. "Henceforth you are mine, to do my bidding.
Recollect that passive obedience is absolutely essential. If I command
you will obey passively, without seeking to inquire the reason, without
heed of the difference between good and evil. Do you agree to such
conditions?" she inquired in deep earnestness.
"Yes," I responded, my mouth dry and parched. This speech of hers
convinced me that she was possessed of some superhuman power which was
as subtle as it was mysterious.
"Then having entered into the compact with me, first seek not to
discover who or what I am. Secondly, say no word to my lover of the
things you have seen or of your suspicions regarding me; and thirdly,
rest confident that what I have told you regarding your friend Morgan's
suicide is the absolute truth. Seek not to argue," she went on,
noticing my intention to interrupt; "remain in patience."
"But where shall I discover Muriel?"
She hesitated in thought.
"You wish to see her to-night--eh?" she inquired. Then, after a pause,
she added: "Well, to-night if you go to Aldersgate Street Station, and
remain in the booking-office, you will meet her there at nine o'clock."
"How do you know her movements so intimately?"