"Now," she argued, "if Kelson were so easily
influenced by Lilian Rosenberg, who was young and attractive, it was
almost a _sine quâ non_ that he was in love with her," and as marriage
was one of the eventualities strictly forbidden to the trio in the
compact--"they must neither quarrel nor marry," Shiel had
exclaimed--here was their chance. Kelson must marry Lilian Rosenberg,
and by so doing, break the compact and overwhelm the trio in some
sudden and dire catastrophe. But the marriage must take place within
six months' time. How could that be arranged? Could Lilian Rosenberg
be bribed or persuaded into it? for of course Miss Templeton being a
woman--albeit an old maid--had at once divined that Lilian Rosenberg
was in love with Shiel--that she did not care a straw for Kelson, and
that to marry the latter she would need some very strong inducement. And the only inducement she could think of was Lilian's genuine love
for Shiel. "Yes, it is upon this one weakness of Lilian's that I must work," she
said to herself. "It is the only way I can see of saving Gladys." Resolved at any rate to experiment upon these lines, she lost no time
in seeking out Lilian Rosenberg, who received her very coldly and was
distinctly rude. "What have my affairs to do with you? Who sent you here?" she
demanded. "Humanity!" Miss Templeton replied. "I have come entirely of my own
accord to plead the cause of one who is seriously ill--possibly
dying!" "Seriously ill!--possibly dying!" Lilian Rosenberg said incredulously,
nevertheless, turning pale. "Mr. Davenport is surely not as bad as all
that!" "When did you see him last?" Miss Templeton asked. "A fortnight ago," Lilian Rosenberg replied. "I have been inundated
with work the past two weeks." "Then you've not heard that he's had a relapse," Miss Templeton said,
"and is now in a most critical condition! He has something on his
mind, and the doctor assures me that whilst he is still worrying over
that something, there is no chance of his recovery." "Do you know what it is--the something?" Lilian Rosenberg asked, the
white on her cheeks intensifying. "Yes!" Miss Templeton said slowly, and trying to appear calm. "He is
very worried about Miss Martin's engagement to Mr. Hamar." "And why, pray?" "Because he knows all about Mr. Hamar--and the compact." "He has told you?" "I have gleaned it from what he has said in his delirium." "Has he been as ill as that?" "Yes, he has. He had a temperature of a hundred and four the day
before yesterday." For a few moments there was silence. Then Lilian Rosenberg said, "Can
you believe what a man says in delirium?" "In this instance I feel sure you can," Miss Templeton replied. "Why should Miss Martin's engagement be of such interest to Mr. Davenport?" Miss Templeton thought for a moment. "Because," she said at last, "he
is in love with her." "Are you sure of it?" "Absolutely!" "Do you think she cares for him, even as much as that?" and she
snapped her fingers. "I think she may care for him a very great deal some day--she has
begun to care for him already!" "But she would never dream of marrying any one as badly off as Mr.
Davenport. He is practically starving." "He was--but he's not now. He's come into money." And she explained
about the fifty thousand pounds. "I see!" Lilian Rosenberg said after a prolonged pause, "that accounts
for her having just begun to care for him. Supposing there was some
one who had been fond of him all along--in the days when he hadn't a
halfpenny to his name, and every one else shunned him!" "I should feel very sorry for that person," Miss Templeton said, "but
setting aside the sacrifice of his happiness--it would be wrong for
him to marry her if his heart was fixed elsewhere." "Which you say it is." "Which I am sure it is!" "Well, supposing it is--what does it concern me? Why tell me all
this?" "Because it lies in your power to put an end to the Compact and bring
about the catastrophe the Unknown threatened." "I think you credit me with rather too much. I do not quite see how I
can accomplish all this?" "But I do," Miss Templeton said, briskly. "I believe I am right in
saying Mr. Kelson is in love with you--that you can make him do pretty
well anything you please. Well, all you have to do is to lead him on
to propose and insist on his marrying you at once--or at all events
before the expiration of the Compact. If you succeed in doing this the
Compact will be broken!" "That may be," Lilian Rosenberg exclaimed, "but where, pray, should I
come in? Why on earth should I marry a man I don't care a snap for?" "Why!" Miss Templeton replied, slowly, "why, because by marrying a man
you don't care a snap for, you would save the life of a man--I am
quite sure, you care a very great deal for." CHAPTER XXIX

THE END AND "THE BEYOND"


It took Lilian Rosenberg some time to make up her mind. "It's extraordinary," she said to herself, "how fond I am of Shiel. I
used to think it an impossibility for me to be really fond of
anyone.... The question is, however, am I sufficiently in love with
him, to give him up to that soft little cat--Gladys Martin! If it
weren't for this illness--if I could only persuade myself that he
isn't as ill as Miss Whatever-her-name-is--said, I shouldn't think
twice--I should let things be--but as I feel sure he is really
ill--dangerously ill--and the only chance of his recovery lies in the
possibility of his marrying Martin--I must deliberate. Shall I or
shall I not? If it were any other woman I shouldn't so much
mind--but--Gladys Martin! I can't endure her. There is one hope,
however, namely--that if he marries her, he will soon tire of
her--and--and come to me. What a tremendous score off her that would
be! But, no! I wouldn't do that! Because--because--well there--just
like my infernal luck--I love him. Could I marry him, I wonder, even
if there were no Gladys Martin? It is doubtful! Yet I believe I could. But what is the good of conceiving impossibilities! There is a Gladys
Martin--and--I can never have Shiel. The only question I have to
settle is--Shall she have him? Shall I marry Kelson so that Martin can
marry Shiel?" Lilian Rosenberg turned this question over in her mind for a whole day
and night, sometimes arriving at one decision, sometimes at another. In the end--very elaborately dressed, and looking daintier than she
had ever done in her life, she waylaid Kelson and asked him to have
tea with her. Any pretty face, accentuated by all the allurements of a large
mushroom hat and hobble skirt, was enough for Kelson; but when that
face belonged to the one girl for whom, above all other girls, he had
a colossal weakness, he simply could not feast his eyes enough on it. "Have tea with you? Of course I will," he said. "But we must be
careful. Hamar is about. If you walk on up the Haymarket, I'll follow
in a taxi, and pick you up, directly I get to a safe distance." "I see you are as much in awe of Mr. Hamar as ever," Lilian Rosenberg
laughed. "I'm not!