At the Villa Rose by AEW Mason

yourself!"
    She lay back with her eyes closed.
    "Yes, yes; it is true. I am safe now. But oh! I feel I shall never dare
to sleep again!" And the tears swam in her eyes. "I woke up with a
feeling of being suffocated. Mon Dieu! There was the light burning in
the room, and a woman, the strange woman with the strong hands, was
holding me down by the shoulders, while a man with his cap drawn over
his eyes and a little black moustache pressed over my lips a pad from
which a horribly sweet and sickly taste filled my mouth. Oh, I was
terrified! I could not scream. I struggled. The woman told me roughly
to keep quiet. But I could not. I must struggle. And then with a
brutality unheard of she dragged me up on to my knees while the man
kept the pad right over my mouth. The man, with the arm which was free,
held me close to him, and she bound my hands with a cord behind me.
Look!"
    She held out her wrists. They were terribly bruised. Red and angry
lines showed where the cord had cut deeply into her flesh.
    "Then they flung me down again upon my back, and the next thing I
remember is the doctor standing over me and this kind nurse supporting
me."
    She sank back exhausted in her chair and wiped her forehead with her
handkerchief. The sweat stood upon it in beads.
    "Thank you, mademoiselle," said Hanaud gravely. "This has been a trying
ordeal for you. I understand that. But we are coming to the end. I want
you to read this description of Mlle. Celie through again to make sure
that nothing is omitted." He gave the paper into the maid's hands. "It
will be advertised, so it is important that it should be complete. See
that you have left out nothing."
    Helene Vauquier bent her head over the paper.
    "No," said Helene at last. "I do not think I have omitted anything."
And she handed the paper back.
    "I asked you," Hanaud continued suavely, "because I understand that
Mlle. Celie usually wore a pair of diamond ear-drops, and they are not
mentioned here."
    A faint colour came into the maid's face.
    "That is true, monsieur. I had forgotten. It is quite true."
    "Any one might forget," said Hanaud, with a reassuring smile. "But you
will remember now. Think! think! Did Mlle. Celie wear them last night?"
He leaned forward, waiting for her reply. Wethermill too, made a
movement. Both men evidently thought the point of great importance. The
maid looked at Hanaud for a few moments without speaking.
    "It is not from me, mademoiselle, that you will get the answer," said
Hanaud quietly.
    "No, monsieur. I was thinking," said the maid, her face flushing at the
rebuke.
    "Did she wear them when she went down the stairs last night?" he
insisted.
    "I think she wore them," she said doubtfully. "Ye-es—yes," and the
words came now firm and clear. "I remember well. Mlle. Celie had taken
them off before her bath, and they lay on the dressing-table. She put
them into her ears while I dressed her hair and arranged the bow of
ribbon in it."
    "Then we will add the earrings to your description," said Hanaud, as he
rose from his chair with the paper in his hand, "and for the moment we
need not trouble you any more about Mademoiselle Celie." He folded the
paper up, slipped it into his letter-case, and put it away in his
pocket. "Let us consider that poor Madame Dauvray! Did she keep much
money in the house?"
    "No, monsieur; very little. She was well known in Aix and her cheques
were everywhere accepted without question. It was a high pleasure to
serve madame, her credit was so good," said Helene Vauquier, raising
her head as though she herself had a share in the pride of that good
credit.
    "No doubt," Hanaud agreed. "There are many fine households where the
banking account is overdrawn, and it cannot be pleasant for the
servants."
    "They are put to so many shifts to hide it from the servants of their
neighbours," said Helene. "Besides," and she made a little grimace of
contempt, "a fine household and an overdrawn banking account—it is
like a ragged petticoat under a satin