"And if I were to tell you that he was innocent I should condemn myself!" laughed the crafty old man.
"Look here, Giulio," said Benton. "I confess that I have long ago regretted the shabby manner in which I treated you when we were all in Brussels, and I hope you will allow me to make some little amend." Then, taking from his pocket-book several hundred-franc notes, he doubled them up and placed them on the table.
"Ah!" said the old man. "I see! You want to buy my secret! No, take your money!" he cried, pushing it back towards him contemptuously. "I want none of it."
"Because you are now earning an honest living," Benton sneered.
"Yes--and Il Passero knows it!" was Cataldi's bold reply.
"Then you refuse to tell me anything you know concerning the events of that night at the Villa Amette?"
"Yes," he snapped. "Take your money, and leave me in peace!"
"And I have come all the way from England to see you," remarked the disappointed man.
"Be extremely careful. You have enemies, so have I. They are the same as those who denounced the signorino to the police--as they will no doubt, before long, denounce you!" said the old man.
"Bah! You always were a pessimist, Giulio," Benton laughed. "I do not fear any enemies--I assure you. The Sparrow takes good care that we are prevented from falling into any traps the police may set," he added after a moment's pause.
The old waiter shook his head dubiously.
"One day there may be a slip--and it will cost you all very dearly," he said.
"You are in a bad mood, Giulio--like all those who exist by being honest," Benton laughed, though he was extremely annoyed at his failure to learn anything from the old fellow.
Was it possible that the suspicions which both Molly and he had entertained were true--namely, that the old man had attempted to kill his mistress? After all, the hue-and-cry had been raised by the police merely because Hugh Henfrey had fled and successfully escaped.
Benton, after grumbling because the old man would make no statement, and again hinting at the fact that he might be the culprit, left with very ill grace, his long journey from London having been in vain.
If Henfrey was to be free to marry Louise, then his innocence must first be proved. Charles Benton had for many weeks realized that his chance of securing old Mr. Henfrey's great fortune was slowly slipping from him. Once Hugh had married Louise and settled the money upon her, then the rest would be easy. He had many times discussed it with Molly, and they were both agreed upon a vile, despicable plot which would result in the young man's sudden end and the diversion of his father's fortune.