Philip Van Doren Stern (ed) (243 page)

The
other
three
men
remained
in
the
smoking
room.
Of
that
there was
no
doubt.
Both
Chalmers
and
Linfield
were
emphatic
upon
the point.
Chalmers,
in
particular,
said:

"We
sat
talking
on
a
well-worn
theme,
I
in
a
chair
on
one
side
of the
fireplace,
Archie
Cranfield
in
another
opposite
to
me,
and
Linfield sitting
on
the
edge
of
the
billiard
table
between
us.
How
the
subject cropped
up
I
cannot
remember,
but
I
found
myself
arguing
that
most men
hid
their
real
selves
all
their
lives
even
from
their
most
intimate friends,
that
there
were
secret
chambers
in
a
man's
consciousness wherein
he
lived
a
different
life
from
that
which
the
world
saw
and knew,
and
that
it
was
only
by
some
rare
mistake
the
portals
of
that chamber
were
ever
passed
by
any
other
man.
Linfield
would
not
hear of
it.
If
this
hidden
man
were
the
real
man,
he
held,
in
some
way
or another
the
reality
would
triumph,
and
some
vague
suspicion
of
the truth
would
in
the
end
be
felt
by
all
his
intimates.
I
upheld
my
view by
instances
from
the
courts
of
law,
Linfield
his
by
the
aid
of
a
generous
imagination,
while
Cranfield
looked
from
one
to
the
other
of
us with
his
sly,
mocking
smile.
I
turned
to
him,
indeed,
in
some
heat.

"
'Well,
since
you
appear
to
know,
Cranfield,
tell
me
which
of
us is
right,'
and
his
pipe
fell
from
his
fingers
and
broke
upon
the
hearth. He
stood
up,
with
his
face
grown
white
and
his
lips
drawn
back
from his
teeth
in
a
kind
of
snarl.

"
'What
do
you
mean
by
that?'
he
asked;
and
before
I
could
answer, the
door
was
thrown
violently
open,
and
Cranfield's
manservant
burst into
the
room.
He
mastered
himself
enough
to
say:

"
'May
I
speak
to
you,
sir?'

"Cranfield
went
outside
the
door
with
him.
He
could
not
have moved
six
paces
from
the
door,
for
though
he
closed
it
behind
him, we
heard
the
sound
of
his
voice
and
of
his
servant's
speaking
in low
tones.
Moreover,
there
was
no
appreciable
moment
of
time
between
the
cessation
of
the
voices
and
Cranfield's
reappearance
in
the room.
He
came
back
to
the
fireplace
and
said
very
quietly:

"
'I
have
something
terrible
to
tell
you.
Brayton
has
shot
himself.'

"He
then
glanced
from
Linfield's
face
to
mine,
and
sat
down
in
a chair
heavily.
Then
he
crouched
over
the
fire
shivering.
Both
Linfield and
myself
were
too
shocked
by
the
news
to
say
a
word
for
a
moment or
two.
Then
Linfield
asked: "
'But
is
he
dead?'

"
'Humphreys
says
so/
Cranfield
returned.
'I
have
telephoned
to
the police
and
to
the
doctor.'