"But did Gabrielle Engledue die?" she asked excitedly.
"Yes. She did. And by her death De Gex inherits the fortune of her father, a rich Spaniard, the Conde de Chamartin."
She looked at me utterly bewildered, and well the poor girl might be. She now realized that she had been the victim of an amazing plot conceived by a master criminal, who was at the same time immensely wealthy, yet who cared nothing for human life so long as he amassed a colossal fortune.
"All this, Mr. Garfield, is most astounding!" she declared, gazing with bewilderment around the room. "It seems incredible!"
"Yes, Miss Tennison, I know it does," I replied. "But have patience, and I will prove to you the true depth of the villainy of our mutual enemy and his well-paid sycophants."
Then, of a sudden, I grasped her soft hand in mine and for a few seconds held it. I looked steadily into her wonderful eyes, and then slowly I raised her hand to my lips and kissed it.
"Gabrielle," I whispered, bending to her in deep earnestness. "My triumph over your enemies is yours--_yours_! Wait, and I will reveal to you the whole facts--facts more astounding than have ever been conceived in the most sensational pages of modern fiction."
She did not withdraw her hand, and by her inert attitude, I realized with indescribable joy that she really reciprocated my love!
I am not an emotional man, neither am I an ideal lover. I am only a mere man-of-the-world. Hence perhaps the reader will forgive me if I fail to describe all the ecstasy of affection which I experienced at that moment.
I loved Gabrielle Tennison with all my soul, and I now knew that she loved me. That surely was all-sufficient!
With Gabrielle I had been a fellow-victim of a deeply laid and most foul plot. That I had been purposely marked down with the aid of De Gex's accomplice and sycophant, Gaston Suzor, was made more than plain as I pursued my inquiries.
The plot by which De Gex had hoped to secure his partner's fortune was indeed worthy the evil ever-scheming mind of the mystery-man of Europe; the man whose unseen influence made itself felt in every great political move on the Continent--the man whose hundred agents were ready in secret to do his bidding and perform any dirty work for payment.