"Sylvia," I said slowly at last, "have you learnt anything--anything
fresh which has awakened these strange apprehensions of yours?"
"No," she faltered, "nothing exactly fresh. It is only a strange and
unaccountable dread which has seized me--a dread of impending
disaster."
"Forget it," I urged, endeavouring to laugh. "All your fears are now
without foundation, dearest. Now we are wedded, we will fearlessly
face the world together."
"I have no fear when I am at your side, Owen," she replied, looking at
me pale and troubled. "But when we are parted I--I always fear. The
day before yesterday I was full of apprehension all the time you had
gone to York. I felt that something was to happen to you."
"Really, dear," I said, smiling, "you make me feel quite creepy. Don't
allow your mind to run on the subject. Try and think of something
else."
"But I can't," she declared. "That's just it. I only wish I could rid
myself of this horrible feeling of insecurity."
"We are perfectly secure," I assured her. "My enemies are now aware
that I'm quite wide awake." And in a few brief sentences I explained
my curious meeting with the Frenchman Delanne.
The instant I described him--his stout body, his grey pointed beard,
his gold pince-nez, his amethyst ring--she sat staring at me, white to
the lips.
"Why," she gasped, "I know! The description is exact. And--and you say
he saw my father in Manchester! He actually rode away in the same cab
as Reckitt! Impossible! You must have dreamt it all, Owen."
"No, dearest," I said quite calmly. "It all occurred just as I have
repeated it to you."
"And he really entered the taxi with Reckitt? He said, too, that he
knew my father--eh?"
"He did."
She held her breath. Her eyes were staring straight before her, her
breath came and went quickly, and she gripped the wooden post to
steady herself, for she swayed forward suddenly, and I stretched out
my hand, fearing lest she should fall.
What I had told her seemed to stagger her. It revealed something of
intense importance to her--something which, to me, remained hidden.
It was still a complete enigma.