that frightened them and made his death imperative.  The hysterical desperation of these men was out of all proportion to the cause.  Baron Tregar, baffling as he is at times, is not the man to lend himself to deliberate assassination merely to keep the succession of Ronador’s son free from incumbrances.  Later still, Carl planned to sell the secret to the rival province of Galituria, but the net closed in so rapidly and he fell to drinking so heavily, that brain and body revolted and the first shadow of insanity whispered another way—­”

“To murder me!” flashed the girl.  For the first time there was warmth and color in her face.

Philip was glad.  He had struck fire from her stony calm at last.

“Yes,” he said, and catching her chilled hands, compelled the glance of her wistful eyes.  “Diane,” he said deliberately, “let us withhold our censure.  Carl has a curious and tragic psychology and he has paid in full.  Thanks to a habit of wonderful alertness and ingenuity, he has made his enemies respect and fear him.  But the tangle aroused the blackest instincts of his soul.”

But the girl was very bitter.  The old impatience and intolerance flashed suddenly in her face.

Philip fell silent for an instant.  Then he shot his final barb with deliberate intention—­not so much to reproach—­though there was utter honesty and loyalty to Carl in what he said—­but more to touch the girl’s tragedy with something sharp enough to pierce her morbidness.

“Carl blames no one but himself,” he said gently.  “But—­but if you had been a little kinder, Diane—­”

“Philip!” He had hurt and knew it.

“Yes, I know!” said Philip quickly, “but you’re not going to misunderstand, I’m sure.  Let me say it with all gentleness and without reproach.  If you could have forgotten his mother’s history and made him feel that he was not quite alone—­that there was some one to whom his careless whims made a difference!  But you were a little scornful and indifferent.  I wonder if you’ll believe that he can tell you each separate moment in his life when you were kind to him.”

“I too was alone and lonely!” defended the girl.  “And the call of the forest had made me most unhappy.”

“Yes.  But Carl was not mocking any sensitive spot in your life—­”

“No—­I was cruel—­cruel!”

“I remember in college,” said Philip, “he talked so much of his beautiful cousin, and the rest of us were wild to see her.  We used to rag him a lot, but you held aloof and we told him we didn’t believe he had a cousin.  We discovered after a while that he was sensitive because you didn’t come when he asked you, and we quit ragging him about it.  You didn’t even come when he took his degree.”

“No.  I—­Oh, Philip!  I am sorry.”

“Your aunt,” went on Philip, “was not mentally adapted to inspire his respect.  He merely laughed and petted her into tearful subjection.  You were the only one, Diane, who was his equal in body and brain, and you failed him at a period when your influence would have been tremendous.  I can’t forget,” added Philip soberly, “that much of this I knew in college and carelessly enough I ignored it all later.  I let him drift when I might have done much to help him.”