I consented. When ten minutes had elapsed I followed, and in
the drawing-room, instead of finding Camilla, I found Louis Ravengar.
I needn't describe my surprise at all that.
Ravengar was beside himself with rage. I gathered after a time that he
claimed Camilla as his own. He said I had stolen her from him. I
couldn't tell exactly what he was driving at, but I parleyed with him a
little until I could get my revolver out of a drawer in my escritoire.
He jumped at me. I thrust him back without firing, and we stood each of
us ready for murder. I couldn't say how long that lasted. Suddenly he
glanced across the room, and his eyes faltered, and I became aware that
Camilla had entered silently. I was so startled at her appearance and by
the transformation in Ravengar that I let off the revolver
involuntarily. I heard Camilla order him, in a sharp, low voice, to
leave instantly. He defied her for a second, and then went. Before
leaving he stuttered, in a dreadful voice: 'I shall kill you'--meaning
her. 'I may as well hang for one thing as for another.'
I said to Camilla, gasping: 'What is it all? What does it mean?'
She then told me, after confessing that she had caught Ravengar hiding
in the dressing-room, and had actually suspected that I had been in
league with him against her, that long ago she had by accident seen
Ravengar commit a crime.
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