"That's Dr. Bauerstein," said John shortly.
"And who is Dr. Bauerstein?"
"He's staying in the village doing
a rest cure, after a bad nervous
breakdown. He's a London specialist; a
very clever man one of the greatest living
experts on poisons, I believe."
And he's a great friend of Mary's," put in
Cynthia, the irrepressible.
John Cavendish frowned and changed the
subject.
"Come for a stroll, Hastings. This has been
a most rotten business. She always had a
rough tongue, but there is no stauncher
friend in England than Evelyn Howard."
He took the path through the plantation,
and we walked down to the village
through the woods which bordered one
side of the estate.
As we passed through one of the gates
on our way home again, a pretty young
woman of gipsy type coming in the
opposite direction bowed and smiled.
"That's a pretty
appreciatively.
girl,"
I
remarked
John's face hardened.
"That is Mrs. Raikes."
"The one that Miss Howard"
"Exactly,"
said
John,
unnecessary abruptness.
with
rather
I thought of the white-haired old lady in
the big house, and that vivid wicked little
face that had just smiled into ours, and a
vague
chill of foreboding crept over me. I brushed
it aside.
"Styles is really a glorious old place," I said
to John.
He nodded rather gloomily.
"Yes, it's a fine property. It'll be mine some
day should be mine now by rights, if my
father had only made a decent will. And
then I shouldn't be so damned hard up as I
am now."
"Hard up, are you?"
"My dear Hastings, I don't mind telling you
that I'm at my wit's end for money."
"Couldn't your brother help you?"
"Lawrence? He's gone through every penny
he ever had, publishing rotten verses in
fancy bindings. No, we're an impecunious
lot.
My mother's always been awfully good to
us, I must say. That is, up to now. Since her
marriage, of course he broke off, frowning.
For the first time I felt that, with Evelyn
Howard, something indefinable had gone
from the atmosphere. Her presence had
spelt security. Now that security was
removed and the air seemed rife with
suspicion. The sinister face of Dr.
Bauerstein recurred to me unpleasantly. A
vague suspicion of every one and
everything filled my mind. Just for a
moment I had a premonition of
approaching evil.