leo was so surprised by this unexpected sight that for the moment he stood still. then he made up his mind to interview the pair. mrs gabriel and pratt evidently understood one another, and the two of them together might probably tell him more about himself than one would do. moreover, leo was angry at the way in which pratt had let him lie under the imputation of being a thief when he could have lifted the disgrace from off his shoulders. certainly pratt could have done so only at the risk of incriminating himself, but at the time leo was too much annoyed to think of this. he saw that there was some mystery, and thinking it might have to do with mrs gabriel's enmity towards himself, he interrupted what seemed to be a furious conversation by knocking at the window.

mrs gabriel and pratt turned in the direction where the sound came, she with a pale face, and pratt with a levelled revolver which he took from his breast pocket. leo might have been in danger of his life, but that he chanced to remember a peculiar tune which pratt had taught him, in order to announce his coming while he was staying at the nun's house. at the time leo had thought this was only a freak of the old man's, but now that he knew who pratt was, he saw that there was use in it, to pratt if not to himself. at all events, he began to whistle.

hardly had he got through the first few bars before pratt's watchful attitude relaxed, and he tossed the revolver on to the table. mrs gabriel still continued to look agitated, but pratt stepped towards the window and opened it coolly.

"i knew it was you," he said, pulling leo into the room and shutting the window. "it is a lucky thing you remembered my signal, else i might have drilled a hole in you. you come at a happy moment." here he stopped and looked suspiciously at the young man. "have you that infernal marton with you?" he asked, with a glance at the window and a movement towards the revolver.

"no, no," replied leo, hastily. "i am all alone."

"that's a good thing," said pratt, grimly. "i won't be taken alive, i promise you. but i knew you would not give me away. i said so to mrs gabriel. she said you would—speaking the worst of you as usual."

leo was too much taken aback by the discovery that pratt was in the castle to reply immediately. moreover, the man was so cool and composed that he felt as though he were in the wrong. he tried to collect his scattered thoughts, but before he could open his mouth mrs gabriel spoke in her usual domineering tones.

"what are you doing here, leo?" she asked. "how did you get on to the terrace? no one can get on without the key of the gate."

"i happen to have the key," said leo, showing it. "you gave it to me yourself some years ago. when i left you i took it with me by mistake. it has come in useful to-night. you may thank your stars, both of you, that i did not bring marton back with me. he left me at the foot of the hill with a story that you were ill, mrs gabriel."

"leo," said pratt in an agitated tone, "surely you would not have brought the man here to get me into trouble?"

"i did not know you were here," said haverleigh, carelessly, for he was still angered at the man.

"i have been here ever since the night i fled from raston's house. it was adam who went on to london and cut the wire."

"and the letter in which you said you had stolen the cup?"

"i wrote that here and posted it to adam that he might send it from london. mrs gabriel helped me to hide. no one knows that i am in this house save herself, and now you are a sharer in our secret."

"it must be difficult to keep your presence here a secret from the servants," said leo, wondering how the man had forced mrs gabriel to help.

here the lady herself interfered. "it is not difficult at all," she said in her most offensive tones. "you know nothing of what you are talking about. pratt is up in the tower room, and i take him food myself from my own meals. it is impossible that anyone can guess."

"well, my dear aunt," said haverleigh, emphatically, "i know that pratt is here. i think, therefore, you had better behave towards me in a more civil manner."

"ha!" scoffed mrs gabriel, folding her arms and looking defiant. "you would not dare to state the truth."

"how do you know that?" said leo, dryly. "pratt is wanted by the law. he committed a theft here and allowed me to lie under suspicion. why should i not give him up and accuse you of being an accessory to his concealment?"

mrs gabriel frowned and her black eyes flashed, but pratt, who had taken a seat, did not move. he merely laughed. "i don't think you will give away, leo," he said. "i admit that mrs gabriel is enough to irritate a saint; but if you punish her you punish me also."

"and you deserve punishment," retorted leo.

"probably i do; but i have my own opinion of the matter. all i ask you to do is to hold your tongue until such a time as i can get away."

"when are you going away?"

"soon, i hope," cried mrs gabriel, spitefully. "i am rather tired of having a jail-bird in my house."

"oh! you refer to that american affair," said pratt, airily. "i had quite forgotten it. well, my dear lady, i do not intend to burden you with my presence after to-morrow. by this time no one will be watching for me hereabouts, as i am supposed to be in london. i shall go to-morrow night and return to my london quarters, where adam awaits me. by[202] the way, haverleigh, has that fool of a detective gone?"

"he is going to-morrow," said leo in a surly tone.

"all the better. we can travel to london together. ah, you smile, my dear leo, but i assure you that if i chose to travel with marton i should do so. i can disguise myself so effectively that even he would not know me. it is not the first time i have baffled him."

"look here, mr pratt, or whatever you choose to call yourself," said the young man, calmly, "you have been kind to me in your own way, and i do not want to take advantage of your present unfortunate position. at the same time, you are a thief and a criminal, and i want to have nothing to do with you. mrs gabriel may approve of your company, but i do not wish to have you for a friend. i shall hold my tongue, but i recommend you to leave this place as soon as possible."

mrs gabriel glared at leo, as she could ill brook his references to herself. she half rose as though she would have flown at him, but a glance from pratt quelled her, and she sat down with more meekness than could have been expected from such a redoubtable termagant. pratt, still keeping his temper, turned to leo. "it is very good of you to interest yourself in my movements," he said in silky tones, "but i can look after myself. it is a grief, my dear fellow, a great grief, that i should be compelled to leave this neighbourhood. i like the place, and the people are fairly agreeable. i was nicely settled in the nun's house, and—"

"surrounded with stolen goods," interrupted leo, wrathfully.

pratt sighed. "i had some charming things," he said; "how i shall miss them! i am too old to make another such collection. i suppose they have all returned to the people i took them from, i fear the stupid creatures will not appreciate them as i have done."

pratt's impudence was so consummate that leo could not help laughing, but mrs gabriel rose in a black fury and shook her fist in the man's face. "how dare you boast of your iniquities in my house?" she cried.

"in your house, my dear lady?" queried pratt, blandly. mrs gabriel got very white and sat down again. apparently pratt had some power over her, which she was afraid he might use. leo had never seen the woman so cowed.

"well, well," continued pratt, stretching his legs; "i have to go, thanks to that wretched man marton. how was it he appeared so unexpectedly?"

"raston sent for him to london to find out who committed the robbery."

"ah!" pratt laughed. "i hope mr marton is satisfied now. my letter should have pleased him."

"it pleased me more," said leo, bluntly; "my name is now clear! and you will be glad to hear," he added, turning to mrs gabriel, "that hale, in the presence of marton and his sister, confessed that he lent me the money. i am afraid your plot against me has failed, my dear aunt."

"hold your tongue!" said mrs gabriel, angrily.

"no. the time has passed for that. i am no longer in your power. i intend to make my own way in the world."

"with assistance from mrs gabriel," said pratt, quietly. "she will start you with a thousand pounds, my dear leo."

"i won't give one penny," said mrs gabriel, glaring. "you can do your very worst, pratt. i have been your milch cow long enough."

"i would not take anything from her," said leo, interposing; "and i'll thank you, mr pratt, to leave my affairs alone. if you will persist in meddling with them, i shall not keep my promise of silence."

"oh, yes, you will!" chimed in pratt, fixing him with his eye. "you dare not betray me, leo."

"dare not!" echoed the young man, angrily.

"not unless you want to be called an unnatural son, my boy!" leo stared, not taking in the meaning of this speech. "for you are my son, leo," added pratt in low tones, his eyes never leaving haverleigh's face.

"your—your—great heavens!"

mrs gabriel burst into a taunting laugh. "ah, you know it at last!" she cried triumphantly. "and he has told you after threatening me with all sorts of things to keep me silent."

"it's—it's not true!" gasped leo.

"it is perfectly true," said the woman, jeeringly. "you are the son of the cleverest thief in the three kingdoms."

"hold your tongue, you hag!" shouted pratt, angrily, for leo was as white as ashes and his face wore an expression of terrible agony.

"i won't be quiet. you told him yourself, and now he shall know all—as the vicar does," finished mrs gabriel, laughing fiercely.

leo started to his feet. "sybil!" he cried out, staring at his enemy. "i know now why the vicar will not let me marry her. you—you—"

"told him you were an illegitimate son," said mrs gabriel, rapidly. "i did not say who was your father, but now that pratt's true character is known i shall tell tempest everything. then we shall see if he will let you speak to sybil again."

"you dare say a word, mrs gabriel, and i—"

but the woman was not to be stopped. she turned like a fury on pratt, who had risen angrily. "hold your tongue," she said savagely; "i have had about enough of you and your precious son. you made me take him to my home and tell everyone that he was the son of my dead brother. a lie, as you well know. and you," she added, turning on haverleigh, "you know now why i have hated you all these years. that man knows a secret of mine and he forced me to do his bidding. i took you here. i brought you up, i gave you money, and i let you take a position to which you were not entitled. position!" mrs gabriel laughed scornfully. "your position should be in the gutter, where you were born. you are no kith or kin of mine, thank god!"

"and i do thank god," said leo, vehemently. "you are a bad, evil-minded woman. although my father is a thief, i would rather be his son than connected with you in any way. for years you have made my life a hell on earth with your vile temper. terrible as is what you have told me, i prefer the thief to the righteous woman."

the mistress of the castle recoiled aghast before this outbreak of anger. never had the usually good-tempered young man spoken so fiercely to her. as he advanced towards her she believed that he was going to strike her, and put up her arm with a look of terror in her eyes. for once the bully was cowed.

"bravo, my boy!" cried pratt, laughing at her discomfiture, and clapping leo on the back. the young man started away.

"don't touch me," he said harshly. "is it not enough that i should have the shame of being your son, but that you should approve of any action i do? but i do not believe that you are my father. where is the proof?"

"in london," said pratt, very quietly, and wincing at the tone of leo's speech. "if you come with me to london i can show you sufficient proof to make you believe."

"my mother?" leo, with a sudden thought, cast a look at mrs gabriel.

"i am not your mother," she said scornfully. "didn't i say there was no blood of mine in your veins?"

"your mother is dead, leo," said pratt in a low voice.

mrs gabriel laughed insultingly. "and i daresay she was some—"

"if you dare to say another word," growled pratt, casting a bitter look at her, "i'll give your secret to the world."

"i don't care if you do," retorted mrs gabriel; but leo saw that she quailed. what could she have done to give a man like pratt—he could not call him father—a power over her?

"you do care," said pratt, quietly; "but if you don't i'll begin by telling leo. here goes. leo, my son—"

in a moment mrs gabriel's defiant attitude became one of supplication. she sprang forward and caught pratt by the arm. "don't! don't," she said faintly. "i'll do whatever you wish."

"will you dare to speak again as you have done?"

"no, no; i know you are the stronger. i could kill you," she muttered, with a flash of her old temper. "but i have to give in—i have to!"

"well," drawled pratt, taking a pleasure in bringing her to her knees, a position to which she was quite unaccustomed. "you have persecuted my poor son so that i think he should have something to hold over your head. it would serve you right."

"i don't want to know your wicked secrets," said leo, very pale, but otherwise calm. "it seems to me that you are an evil couple. and i—heaven help me!—have a father who is a thief."

"what of that!" said mrs gabriel, getting angry again. "you are a thief as well, are you not? the cup—"

"i did not steal it," said leo, proudly. "you know as well as i do that this—this"—he winced—"father of mine took it away from the chapel."

"that is just where you are wrong. he did not—"

"mrs gabriel!" pratt's voice sounded dangerous. she was quiet at once, and looked at him in a frightened way. but leo had heard enough to arouse his suspicions. he turned on pratt and seized him by the arm.

"have you been telling a lie?" muttered the unhappy young man.

his father shook him off. "it's no use telling another one," he said in a dogged way; "now you know so much you may as well know all. i know nothing about the cup; but, to clear you, i took the blame on myself. you see, leo," he said calmly, "my character is already so bad that a robbery more or less does not matter. i did it for you, my boy, as i have done everything else. i wanted you to be a gentleman and marry the girl of your heart. sybil loves you, and i thought when the vicar knew you were innocent that he would let you marry her."

"he might have done so," said leo, sitting down in absolute despair; "but since mrs gabriel told him that i was illegitimate, he has never been the same. he is a proud man."

"too proud to let the son of a thief marry his child!" taunted the woman.

"he doesn't know that leo is my son," said pratt, fiercely.

"i intend to tell him as soon as you are away," she said.

"you will do nothing of the sort," said pratt in a slow, venomous way which made her shrink back. "by speaking to the vicar and telling a lie you have caused trouble enough. he must know no more."

"i did not tell a lie."

"you did. my son was born in lawful wedlock."

"then why didn't you bring him up yourself?" said mrs gabriel, with a sneer. "you gave him to me in london, and made me adopt him. i had to say that he was my nephew. oh, how you have used me!"

"and i have not done using you. hold your tongue, or it will be the worse for you. you know the power i have. i will not scruple to use it if you dare to do anything against my orders. now, you can go. i want to speak to my son alone."

mrs gabriel seemed inclined to dispute this order, but a look from her tyrant cowed her. with a defiant flinging up of the head she walked out of the room, and closed the door.

"she will tell the servants," said leo.

"oh, no, she won't," said pratt coolly. "you don't know the power i have over her. she will not dare."

"i don't want to know anything," said leo, looking down on the ground, with folded arms. "i know quite enough. are you speaking truly?"

pratt met his gaze in a perfectly composed manner. "i am speaking the truth," he said; "you are my son, and your mother died two years after you were born. i was then in some danger from a—well, no matter. to make a long story short, i wanted to procure a home for you where you would be brought up like a gentleman. having a certain power over mrs gabriel, i fixed upon her, and made her tell the story of your being her nephew. she did all i wished, but had i known how she treated you," he muttered, clenching his fist, "i should soon have brought her to her bearings."

"and it was this power that made her introduce you into colester society?"

"yes. i can do what i like with the woman. i know it is a terrible thing for you to find out what i am. but i took to bad courses early, leo, and i went from bad to worse. it is a second nature for me to steal—"

"oh!" leo rose with a sickening sensation of disgust. "don't tell me any of your evil doings. i know that you are my father; that you are a thief; i want to know no more. you have ruined my life."

"i have not," said pratt. "how can you say such a thing! what you have heard to-night need go no further. i shall say nothing, and mrs gabriel will be forced to hold her tongue. your name is cleared of this theft."

"did you not steal the cup?" broke in leo, looking at his father.

"no; i did not. if i had stolen it i should say so. but i do not know who took it. i am going to london to find out. old penny, the pawnbroker, is a friend of mine. i know enough to get him into trouble as a receiver of stolen goods, so he will have to tell me who it was impersonated you."

"you said in your letter that adam—"

pratt interrupted impatiently. "adam had nothing to do with it," he said. "i invented all that to throw dust in marton's eyes. i suspect that hale has something to do with the stealing of the cup. he may have taken it himself, for all i know. but old penny will tell me. i'll get to the bottom of this, you may be sure. as to you, leo, hold your tongue about being my son and come back to mrs gabriel. she will be quite willing to receive you, and i can force her to make you her heir. then you can marry sybil. when you are rich and have an assured position, the vicar will overlook the stain on your birth. it is a lie, certainly," added pratt, with a shrug, "but to tell the truth would be to make matters worse, so we must leave things as they are. for once mrs gabriel has got the better of me. but it won't occur again. you stay with her, and i promise you she will be as polite as possible to you. you will be master here."

leo listened to this long speech with his aching head between his hands. when pratt had finished, he looked up quietly. "it is good of you to take all this trouble," he said, "but i cannot come back to mrs gabriel. even if she loved, instead of hating me, i could not come back on those terms. i can never marry sybil either. do you think that i would let her become my wife, knowing who i am? your sins must be visited on me, pratt—i can't call you father. you say you are my father, and you declare that you can prove it. when you are in london i expect you to do so. let me know your address, and i'll come up. but for the moment i assume that you are speaking the truth. in that case there is nothing for me to do but to go to south africa and seek a soldier's death. i would rather die than marry sybil now."

"don't talk like that, leo," said pratt, much moved, and wincing at the contempt of the young man. "i am not so bad as you think. i have done many a kind action. i can—"

"oh, don't defend yourself," said leo, rising to go. "i must get away by the same way i came. i shall say nothing, but i hope you will be out of colester by to-morrow night. marton leaves in the morning, so the coast will be clear. i'm going now, and i hope to hear from you, so that you may give me proof of the truth of this story."

"you don't believe me?"

"i do—in a way. it seems to be true. you say so, and mrs gabriel also. i suppose i am your son. but i am hoping against hope that you may not be able to prove the truth."

"leo," said pratt, following him to the window, "i am your father, and if you intend to leave sybil you may as well come with me. i can go with you to south america, and there i can lead a new life. i am rich in spite of losing the nun's house. i have a belt of jewels!—thousands of pounds of the most valuable—"

"and all stolen," cried leo, thrusting him back in disgust. "for god's sake don't speak to me any more, or i shall forget that you are my father! if you only knew how i loathe myself for being your son! i never thought it would come to this. let me go—let me go!" and leo, pulling his arm from the grasp of pratt, rushed out on to the terrace.

in another ten minutes mrs gabriel re-entered. she found pratt with his head buried in his arms, sobbing like a child. at the sight she burst out laughing. then she locked the window leo had left open.

"get to bed, pratt," she said, contemptuously, "and pleasant dreams to you!"