Page:William Le Queux - The Temptress.djvu/319

304 that Glanville had also been smitten by her fatal beauty."

"He had, nevertheless, as you will see. This woman—who afterwards assumed the name of Dedieu—with her usual crafty far-sightedness saw that it was possible to turn the mad impetuosity of you and your fellow-student to her advantage, and did not fail to embrace the opportunity. The scheme she concocted was indeed a fiendish one, which she carried out unaided, and the secret would have been safe even now had I not been the witness of her crime."

"You—you saw me?" shrieked Valérie in dismay. "You lie! You saw nothing."

"Her crime! What was it? Tell us quickly," urged Hugh.

"The facts are almost incredible, but they are simply as follows: Nicholson was her lover, and the safe in his room contained a quantity of cut and uncut gems. She devised an ingenious plan by which she could get rid of her lover, obtain the stones, and throw the guilt upon the two men who were infatuated with her."

"Bah ! don't believe her!—she's telling you a pretty romance!" declared Valérie, striving to appear unconcerned.

But Gabrielle took no notice of her interruptions.

"The way she set about it," she went on, "was, to say the least, skilful and heartless. Showing favor to each, unknown to the other, she told them that Nicholson held her enthralled by means of a secret, and that she was unable to break from him in consequence. An insinuating proposal she made was likely to lead to but one result—a promise from each that they would take Nicholson's life."

"Wretch!" hissed the unhappy woman, under her breath.