Page:Arthur Stringer - The Hand of Peril.djvu/216

 and he was afraid. He needed you in his work. He had spent years in making you what you were. But he saw you were beginning to be restless, that your heart was not at rest, that you might break away from him! And he wanted to tie you down, for his own use. He wanted to chain you to where he had placed you, the same as a dog is tied to its kennel. And Carlesi was to be the chain to hold you there!"

"That is not true!" half moaned the girl.

"Ha, so it is not true? And it is not true, that night in Perugia, in the villa where by chance you found the first printing-press? That night when Carlesi tried to come through the window, after you had quarrelled with him in the garden. That was your father's villa, on that night, and Carlesi could never have come to that window without your father's consent. No, this fine father of yours knew what Carlesi was going to do. That was part of the plan. But you shot Carlesi as he pushed his way in through the window. Ah, you remember that too! You shot him, through the curtains, and he fell back into the garden. That was something which this man Lambert had not looked for. It changed his plans. But it did not end them. He was too clever for that!" "I will not listen," cried the desperate girl. "I will not listen to this!"

"You must listen. For it is time you heard these things. You killed Carlesi. And he fell into the garden, and your father took care of the body. He covered up the crime and promised that no one should know. It took much money. That was explained to