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"I say! What a tale--quite a Shakespearean ending, stage fairly littered with corpses," struck in Major Carstairs "I wonder Tochatti didn't put the finishing touch by stabbing herself as well!"

"She did think of it, I believe," owned Chloe, "but the sound of quarrelling had brought other people on the scene, and Tochatti was of course arrested and the whole story investigated witha pretty common story, however--for the Sicilians are a hot-blooded race--it was quite easy for the authorities to reconstruct the scene; and since Tochatti was innocent of any actual crime she was eventually released; only to fall ill with some affection of the brain which finally landed her in an asylum"

"An asylum!" Anstice whistled "Yet one would have hesitated to call her insane----"

"Yes, now, but you o She recovered at length, and the only re pen or pencil She seeht soshe would be wiser to avoid such things in future"

"Pity she didn't keep her resolve," commented Major Carstairs dryly; and Chloe nodded

"Yes We should all have been spared a good deal of trouble Well, as you know, she enteredher honeymoon in Italy, and was my nurse as a child Now I come to the second half of the story Tochatti chose to adore me from rudge against anyone who did not fall down and worshipon the affair of the letters When Mrs Ogden chose to quarrel with me, or at least evince a decided coldness, Tochatti's ready hatred flared up; and after the unlucky day when Mrs Ogden cut me dead before half the county at a Flower Show, she determined to show the woman she could not be allowed to insult me with impunity"

"It certainly was a piece of unpardonable rudeness," said Major Carstairs warmly; and Chloe smiled

"Yes--and at the moment I resented it very bitterly But if Tochatti herself had not been there, in charge of Cherry, the matter would have dropped--and it was really unfortunate she should have seen the 'cut' Well, it see how best to get even with the person who dared to act insolently towards e of ht her that one can't use daggers and knives with ienuinely puzzled to kno to act I suppose the thought of weapons turned her mind back to that Sicilian affair; and suddenly it flashed upon her that letters, after all, could be trusted to do a good deal of injury"