Page:Richard Marsh--The goddess a demon.djvu/208

196 if it had been a funny tale. When I had finished he rubbed his chin.

"You've burned your boats, that's clear. You'll never hang for the lady. All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put that murder story of yours together again. You've managed very well, my dear Ferguson."

I cared nothing for his sneers. Other thoughts were racking me.

"I shouldn't be surprised if he's gone off to arrest her right away, and all because of my—my cursed blundering."

"I think not. The lady's safe for to-night. The police don't always move so fast as you appear to think. They'll know where to find her when they want her."

"That's it! Hume, couldn't—couldn't she be induced to go where they wouldn't know where to find her?" "I hope she's not so foolish. To run away would be about equivalent to pleading guilty. She'd have all England hot-foot after her. Better stay and face the music. The inquest's for to-morrow. As one of the most important witnesses, you will be able to make the whole thing clear, and establish her innocence in the eyes of all men."

The inquest! I had never thought of it. And for to-morrow? The idea came with a