"Poor Cynthia, poor little girl," murmured Thornton, "I am very fond of her, and her father was my most intimate friend. It was beastly of Carew to issue such an ultimatum. She is entirely dependent upon him."
"So Miss Owen thought. Miss Carew confided her troubles to her on her arrival. Miss Owen said that while they were sitting in the library Captain Lane came in looking very dejected, and she immediately got up to leave the lovers together. Before leaving the room, however, she overheard Lane tell Miss Carew that he had just seen her uncle, hoping to persuade him to reconsider his refusal, but that he flatly refused to do so in the most insulting terms."
"Upon my word, for a mild-tempered man, Carew managed to have plenty of quarrels on his hands on Monday," exclaimed Thornton.
"And the last one undoubtedly brought about his death"; Brett spoke so positively that Douglas hitched his chair nearer in his excitement. "After I had finished my interview with Mrs. Owen I asked permission to question her servants. The footman told me that Miss Carew left the dance earlier than the other guests, and that she had to wait a long time for her carriage. He said he called her carriage check number repeatedly, and with no result. That Captain Lane, becoming impatient, put on his overcoat and hat and walked down the street searching for Miss Carew's carriage."
"That Captain Lane not only found the carriage but the Senator sitting in it, and seized the opportunity to punish him for his deviltry to the girl he loved."
A long pause followed as Colonel Thornton and Douglas sat thinking over Brett's startling news.
"Where did he get the weapon?" inquired Douglas finally.
"Out of Mrs. Owen's library, of course. He may have picked it up in a fit of absent-mindedness and carried it with him."
"Did the footman or butler notice anything in his hand when he left the house?" questioned Thornton.
"I asked them, and they declared that he carried an umbrella in his left hand, and that they had not noticed whether he was holding anything in his right hand or not. The footman declared that it was raining so hard that it was impossible to see anything clearly. They both said Captain Lane was some fifteen minutes returning to the house."