“I got hold of the coil as my match burned out, and pulled it away from the surrounding rubbish.  Its weight gave me hope that it would be sufficient.  In haste I dragged it to the outer room into which the moonlight was now streaming.  With a shuddering glance at the dead man, whose ashen face stared up in ghastly fashion in the moonbeams, I opened the window and looked out to make sure that no one was below.  Satisfied on that point I brought forward the rope and began paying it out of the window.  To my content I saw that there was a strong iron stanchion at the side which would allow of the rope being fastened to it.

“There was light enough just then to enable me to see pretty well when the end of the rope reached the ground, and upon examining what was left in the room I calculated that not much more than half was outside.  In a flash the discovery gave me an idea.  Why should I not simply pass the rope behind the stanchion and use it doubled?  By that means I could pull it down after me when I reached the ground, and so not only effect my escape but also leave the fact unknown.  That, together with the door locked on the inside, would tend to make Henshaw’s death a mystery with a strong probability in favour of suicide, which would be altogether the happiest conclusion to arrive at.  In fact my hastily formed calculation was, as we know, subsequently borne out and the suicide theory would probably have been quietly accepted had it not been for the intervention of Gervase Henshaw with his smartness and incredulity.

“That is practically the end of my story, Miss Morriston.  I laid the chisel by the body, went to the window, pulled in the rope, carefully got the centre, adjusted it through the stanchion, and with a last look at the dead man, got out of the window, a rather nerve-trying business, and began to lower myself.  I had calculated that the double rope was long enough to take me to within a few feet of the ground, and this proved to be the case.  When I came to the end I let go of one side and pulled the other with me as I dropped.  Then I drew the rope down, the latter half when released falling with a great thud.  Hastily I set off for the lake, dragging the rope after me.  At the landing-stage by the boat-house I coiled it up as best I could and threw it in.  As I had anticipated it was thick and heavy enough to sink without being weighted.  Then with a last glance at the tower I made my way as quickly as possible to the hotel in a state of nerves which you may imagine, little thinking that my descent from the tower had been witnessed.  My first intention was to abandon all idea of going to the dance, but on reflection I came to the conclusion that I had better at least put in an appearance there.

“Accordingly I changed and came on late to the ball, as you know.  Naturally a great curiosity possessed me to find out the girl who had played the third part in the drama which had been enacted in the tower.  But I had not seen her face, nor heard her voice sufficiently to be able to recognize it.  There were several tall girls in the room, yourself among the number, but naturally it never occurred to me—­”