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“

You

have

to

the

full

the

English

passion

for

‘

fair

-

play

!

’

Now

your

scruples

are

satisfied

,

let

us

depart

immediately

.

There

is

no

time

to

be

lost

.

Our

stay

in

England

has

been

short

but

sufficient

.

I

know

—

what

I

wanted

to

know

.

”

The

tone

was

light

,

but

I

read

a

veiled

menace

into

the

words

.

“

Still

—

”

I

began

,

and

stopped

.

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“

Still

—

as

you

say

!

Without

doubt

you

are

satisfied

with

the

part

you

are

playing

.

Me

,

I

preoccupy

myself

with

Jack

Renauld

.

”

Jack

Renauld

!

The

words

gave

me

a

start

.

I

had

completely

forgotten

that

aspect

of

the

case

.

Jack

Renauld

,

in

prison

,

with

the

shadow

of

the

guillotine

looming

over

him

!

I

saw

the

part

I

was

playing

in

a

more

sinister

light

.

I

could

save

Bella

—

yes

,

but

in

doing

so

I

ran

the

risk

of

sending

an

innocent

man

to

his

death

.

I

pushed

the

thought

from

me

with

horror

.

It

could

not

be

.

He

would

be

acquitted

.

Certainly

he

would

be

acquitted

!

But

the

cold

fear

came

back

.

Suppose

he

were

not

?

What

then

?

Could

I

have

it

on

my

conscience

—

horrible

thought

!

Would

it

come

to

that

in

the

end

?

A

decision

.

Bella

or

Jack

Renauld

?

The

promptings

of

my

heart

were

to

save

the

girl

I

loved

at

any

cost

to

myself

.

But

,

if

the

cost

were

to

another

,

the

problem

was

altered

.

Отключить рекламу

What

would

the

girl

herself

say

?

I

remembered

that

no

word

of

Jack

Renauld

’

s

arrest

had

passed

my

lips

.

As

yet

she

was

in

total

ignorance

of

the

fact

that

her

former

lover

was

in

prison

charged

with

a

hideous

crime

which

he

had

not

committed

.

When

she

knew

,

how

would

she

act

?

Would

she

permit

her

life

to

be

saved

at

the

expense

of

his

?

Certainly

she

must

do

nothing

rash

.

Jack

Renauld

might

,

and

probably

would

,

be

acquitted

without

any

intervention

on

her

part

.

If

so

,

good

.

But

if

he

was

not

.

…

That

was

the

terrible

,

the

unanswerable

problem

.

I

fancied

that

she

ran

no

risk

of

the

extreme

penalty

.

The

circumstances

of

the

crime

were

quite

different

in

her

case

.

She

could

plead

jealousy

and

extreme

provocation

,

and

her

youth

and

beauty

would

go

for

much

.

The

fact

that

by

a

tragic

mistake

it

was

old

Mr

.

Renauld

,

and

not

his

son

,

who

paid

the

penalty

would

not

alter

the

motive

of

the

crime

.

But

in

any

case

,

however

lenient

the

sentence

of

the

Court

,

it

must

mean

a

long

term

of

imprisonment

.

No

,

Bella

must

be

protected

.

And

,

at

the

same

time

,

Jack

Renauld

must

be

saved

.

How

this

was

to

be

accomplished

I

did

not

see

clearly

.

But

I

pinned

my

faith

to

Poirot

.

He

knew

.

Come

what

might

,

he

would

manage

to

save

an

innocent

man

.

He

must

find

some

pretext

other

than

the

real

one

.

It

might

be

difficult

,

but

he

would

manage

it

somehow

.

And

with

Bella

unsuspected

,

and

Jack

Renauld

acquitted

,

all

would

end

satisfactorily

So

I

told

myself

repeatedly

,

but

at

the

bottom

of

my

heart

there

still

remained

a

cold

fear

.

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