Rose suddenly remembered the day when Major
Guthrie had come to say good-bye. A confused feeling
of horror, of pity, and of vicarious shame swept over
her. For the first time in her young life she was glad
of the darkness which hid her face from her companion.

The thought of seeing Anna now filled her with
repugnance and shrinking pain. "I -- I understand
what you mean," she said slowly.

"You must remember that she is a German. She
probably regards herself in the light of a heroine!"

The minutes dragged by, and it seemed to Mr.
Reynolds that they had been waiting there at least half
an hour, when at last he saw with relief the tall slim
figure emerge through the great door of the Council
House. Very deliberately James Hayley walked down
the stone steps, and came towards them. When he
reached the place where the other two were standing,
waiting for him, he looked round as if to make sure
that there was no one within earshot.

"Rose," he said huskily -- and he also was consciously
glad of the darkness, for he had just gone through
what had been, to one of his highly civilised and fastidious
temperament, a most trying ordeal -- "Rose, I'm
sorry to bring you bad news. Anna Bauer is dead.
The poor old woman has hanged herself. As a matter
of fact, it was I -- I and the inspector of police -- who
found her. We managed to get a doctor in through
one of the side entrances -- but it was of no use."

Rose said no word. She stood quite still, overwhelmed,
bewildered with the horror, and, to her, the
pain, of the thing she had just heard.

And then, suddenly, there fell, shaft-like, athwart

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