The Italian’s eyes gleamed as he glanced restlessly about him. There was no reason for Walter to ask himself if his prisoner understood. Silva shrugged his shoulders.
“That is what you are going to do?” he asked.
“Oh, we’ll come to that presently. In the meantime, I want a little information. You will remember when we were talking to you in the manager’s room at the Imperial, a lady came in and addressed a few words to you. She was only there for a moment, but she stayed quite long enough for me to recognise her features. I want to know what Mrs. Delahay needed to see you for.”
A sharp laugh broke from Silva’s lips.
“You are very clever,” he sneered. “Oh, so clever. So you are interested in Mrs. Delahay? You think, perhaps, that I know a deal about the murder of her husband. I know less about it than you do, and I have no concern with her at all. You had better ask her. She will probably be astonished—”
“Ah, I see what you mean,” Walter exclaimed. “It was stupid of me not to grasp the problem sooner. Of course, it was not Mrs. Delahay at all I saw with you, but her sister, Countess Flavio.”
Something like an oath broke from Silva’s lips.
“Thank you very much,” Walter said. “You could not tell me any more if you were ever so candid. And now I know exactly what brings you here. It is not robbery—”
“Robbery!” Silva broke out vehemently. “Sir, your words are a deadly insult. I am an honest man, though I may only be a servant; I would scorn to touch what does not belong to me.”
“In that case you came here for violence, then,” Walter said. “Yours must be a strangely illogical mind. You would not soil your hands with another man’s money, but you would not hesitate to stab him in the back under cover of the darkness. Come, don’t let us argue any longer. You came here the other night to murder my uncle. But for a fortunate chance, Lord Ravenspur would be in his grave now. It is useless to deny it.”
“Have I made any attempt to deny it?” Silva said, in a voice that was utterly devoid of passion. “Have I lied to you in any way? Oh, I see there is no mercy in your face, and doubtless if our positions were reversed, I should act as you are acting tonight. You are going to hand me over to the authorities. I shall be no worse treated if I tell the truth. I did come here to take Lord Ravenspur’s life. I am only sorry that I failed.”
XXVI
A Faithful Servant
The words were uttered with a grim coldness that caused Walter to shiver. This was worse than any outbreak of fury, worse than homicidal mania in its most acute form. The man was sane enough beyond all doubt, but, at the same time, he was a fanatic, prepared to gratify his vengeance, even if his own life paid the penalty.
“Well, that is candid, at any rate,” Walter said. “You came here prepared to take my uncle’s life. It was the second attempt that you made upon it. Oh, you know what I mean. You mistook a guest who was coming here for Lord Ravenspur.”
“That was a mistake,” Silva said coolly. “It was a mistake that I realised just in time. I should have greatly regretted any harm happening to an innocent party.”
“I suppose it would have quite upset you,” Walter said sarcastically. “But we are wandering from the point. What is the grudge you have against my uncle? You have never even seen him till quite lately. He has been an utter stranger to you.”
A contemptuous smile flickered over Silva’s face.
“I don’t suppose I shall be able to make you understand,” he said. “Your race is different to mine. The blood in your veins flows much slower and colder. You have no traditions in this country which are part of your religion. You cannot comprehend that it is one’s duty to avenge insult and outrage, even at the cost of a life. In my part of the world a man would be held a coward who hesitated to retrieve his honour in such a fashion. But in this case it was not my honour, but the honour of the noble house to which I belonged. It would have been bad enough if the thing had been done by one of my own countrymen, but a stranger, like Lord Ravenspur—”
“I fail to see the distinction,” Walter murmured.
“Ah, that is because you cannot understand. Look you here, signor. I have a mistress to whom I am devotedly attached. I would lay down my life for her. I would do anything to shield her from pain. Let us say that my mistress is married to a man who outwardly possesses all the graces that Nature can bestow. He has the intellectual gifts, too. He is widely beloved and popular wherever he goes. But at heart he is a fiend. The refined cruelties which he uses towards his wife arouse revengeful feelings in my breast, though I dare not gratify them, in case I perish, and leave my beloved
