“This upsets all May’s theories and gives the lie to me as well.  Why did I believe him!  Why did I let him convince me against my better judgment?”

“Do not fret about that now.”

“You might say, ‘I told you so!’ but you will not do that.  Nevertheless, you were right to seek to stop this unfortunate man last night, and he was terribly mistaken.  No being from another world had anything to do with his death.  If we granted that, there is an end of religious faith.”

“We can be sure of it, father.  Evil spirits would have had no power over Mr. May, if there is a just God in heaven.”

“Then it is something else.  If not a spirit, then a living man—­a human devil—­and the police will discover him.  In this house, one we have known and trusted; for all are known and trusted.  They will blame me, with good reason, for sacrificing another life.  The irony of fate that I, of all men, one so much alive to the meaning of mercy—­that I, out of superstitious folly—­But how will it look in the eyes of justice?  Black—­black!  I am well prepared to suffer what I have deserved, Mary.  Nothing that man can do to me equals the shame and dismay I feel when I consider what I have done to myself!”

“You must not talk so; it is unworthy of you.  You know it, father, while you speak.  Nobody has a right to question you or your opinions.  Many would have been convinced by Mr. May last night.  They may still think that he was right, and that, far from receiving evil treatment, he was blessed by being taken away into the next world without pain or shock.  We must feel for him as we try to feel for dear Tom.  And I do not mean that I am sorry for him; I am only sorry for us, because of the difficulty of explaining.  Yet to tell the truth will not be difficult.  They must do the best they can.  It doesn’t matter as much as you think.  Indeed, how should they blame you at all until they themselves find out the truth?”

“They will—­they must!  They will discover the reason.  They will hunt down the murderer, and they will inevitably attach utmost blame to me for listening to a man possessed.  May was possessed, I tell you!”

“He was exceedingly convincing.  When I listened to him he shook me, too.”

“I should have supported you, instead of going over to him.”

“He knows the truth now.  He is with Tom now.  We must remember that.  We know they are happy, and that makes the opinion of living people matter very little.”

Then, out of his weakness, he smote her, and thrust upon her some hours of agony, very horrible in their nature, which there was no good reason that Mary should have suffered.

“Who is alive and who is dead?” he asked.  “We don’t even know that.  The police demanded to make their own inquiries, and Peter Hardcastle may at this moment be a living and breathing man, if they are right.”

She stared at him and feared for his reason.