“No,” I answered, slowly; “I don’t know.  Silva said it was a great destiny; yes, and that it meant turning one’s back on marriage.”

“That is right,” said Godfrey, in an indescribable tone, “there is no marriage—­there are only revolting, abominable, unspeakable rites and ceremonies.  I ran across Professor Sutro, the Orientalist, to-day, and had a talk with him about it.  He says the worship of Siva is merely the worship of the reproductive principle, as it runs through all creation, and that the details of this worship are inconceivably disgusting.  That is the sort of destiny Miss Vaughan has chosen.”

My hands were clammy with the horror of it.

“We must save her!” I said, hoarsely.  “Of course she doesn’t know—­doesn’t suspect!  We must get her away from Silva!”

“Undoubtedly we must do something,” Godfrey agreed.  “I don’t know how we can get her away from Silva, but we might get Silva away from her.  Couldn’t you arrest him on suspicion and keep him locked up for two or three days, Simmonds?”

“I might,” Simmonds grunted.

“And while he’s away, you can work with her, Lester; take Mrs. Royce to see her, give her a hint of what Saivaism really is—­or get Mrs. Royce to.  If that doesn’t have any effect, we can try stronger measures; but I believe, if we can get her away from Silva’s influence for a few days, she will be all right again.”

“I hope so,” I agreed, “but I’m not at all certain.  She didn’t behave like a hypnotised person, Godfrey; she seemed to be acting of her own free will.  I couldn’t see that Silva was trying to influence her in any way.  She said she was trying to carry out her father’s wish.  And it certainly was his wish—­the will proves that.  If anybody is hypnotising her, I should say it was he.”

“Well, I can’t arrest him,” said Simmonds, with a grin.

“Her father’s wishes may have had some weight with her at the outset,” admitted Godfrey, “but they couldn’t have driven her to the length to which she has gone.  And about the will.  If Vaughan had not been killed, if he had been found insane, the will would have been at once invalidated.  Don’t you get the glimmer of a motive for his murder there, Lester?”

“It can be invalidated now, if Miss Vaughan contests it,” I pointed out.

“Yes; but unless she does contest it, it will stand.  But if Vaughan had been declared insane, the will could never have been probated—­no contest would have been necessary.  Do you see the difference?”

“I see what you mean; but I don’t think it amounts to much.  Silva declares that if Miss Vaughan contests the will, he will not defend it.”

“But he knows perfectly well that she will not contest it.  The surest way to prevent a contest is by adopting just such an attitude.  Besides, if we don’t save her, he’ll get her share, too.  Vaughan’s estate and Vaughan’s daughter and everything else that was Vaughan’s will disappear into his maw.  Oh, he’s playing for a big stake, Lester, and it looks to me as though he were going to win it!”