Owen had gone to the door of Cytherea’s room.

‘Cytherea, darling—­’tis Owen,’ he said, outside the door.  A rustling of clothes, soft footsteps, and a voice saying from the inside, ‘Is it really you, Owen,—­is it really?’

‘It is.’

‘O, will you take care of me?’

‘Always.’

She unlocked the door, and retreated again.  Manston came forward from the other room with a candle in his hand, as Owen pushed open the door.

Her frightened eyes were unnaturally large, and shone like stars in the darkness of the background, as the light fell upon them.  She leapt up to Owen in one bound, her small taper fingers extended like the leaves of a lupine.  Then she clasped her cold and trembling hands round his neck and shivered.

The sight of her again kindled all Manston’s passions into activity.  ‘She shall not go with you,’ he said firmly, and stepping a pace or two closer, ’unless you prove that she is not my wife; and you can’t do it!’

‘This is proof,’ said Owen, holding up the paper.

‘No proof at all,’ said Manston hotly. ’’Tis not a death-bed confession, and those are the only things of the kind held as good evidence.’

‘Send for a lawyer,’ Owen returned, ’and let him tell us the proper course to adopt.’

‘Never mind the law—­let me go with Owen!’ cried Cytherea, still holding on to him.  ‘You will let me go with him, won’t you, sir?’ she said, turning appealingly to Manston.

‘We’ll have it all right and square,’ said Manston, with more quietness.  ’I have no objection to your brother sending for a lawyer, if he wants to.’

It was getting on for twelve o’clock, but the proprietor of the hotel had not yet gone to bed on account of the mystery on the first floor, which was an occurrence unusual in the quiet family lodging.  Owen looked over the banisters, and saw him standing in the hall.  It struck Graye that the wisest course would be to take the landlord to a certain extent into their confidence, appeal to his honour as a gentleman, and so on, in order to acquire the information he wanted, and also to prevent the episode of the evening from becoming a public piece of news.  He called the landlord up to where they stood, and told him the main facts of the story.

The landlord was fortunately a quiet, prejudiced man, and a meditative smoker.

‘I know the very man you want to see—­the very man,’ he said, looking at the general features of the candle-flame.  ’Sharp as a needle, and not over-rich.  Timms will put you all straight in no time—­trust Timms for that.’

‘He’s in bed by this time for certain,’ said Owen.

’Never mind that—­Timms knows me, I know him.  He’ll oblige me as a personal favour.  Wait here a bit.  Perhaps, too, he’s up at some party or another—­he’s a nice, jovial fellow, sharp as a needle, too; mind you, sharp as a needle, too.’