He was not involved ostensibly in any of the Bullion robberies. Had the Duke been shot by the so-called highwaymen on Hampstead Heath there was no one except Hickson who could then connect Jasper Royd with the cowardly attack of four men on a traveller they expected to be unarmed!
Only Hickson was in the position of being able to incriminate the “Evil Genius’. And Verena could not help guessing that Hickson himself sometimes wondered how long he would survive once Jasper Royd had no further use for him.
It was all very frightening. At the same time to Verena, here in The Castle, laughing at the things that Harry Sheraton was saying, seeing the Duke standing in front of the fireplace with a smile on his lips, his broad shoulders and great height seeming to dominate the salon for all its s
