"I do not know--I cannot say. Perhaps not; although I never considered the question. But on the day that I left his house for the home I dreamt and hoped would be mine, the home in which Lizzie and I would have lived happily together. I should have given him something handsome, and I am sure I should always have been his friend. I ought not, perhaps, now that we have gone so far, to conceal anything from you." "Indeed you ought not. Tell me everything; it may help me." "I am sure," said the young fellow, with deep feeling, "that he did not mean it, and that he said it only to comfort me. But it made me mad. He hinted that my poor Lizzie could not have been true to me, that she must have had another lover, whom she was in the habit of meeting late at night. If any other man had dared to say as much I would have killed him. But my guardian meant no harm, and when he saw how he had wounded me, he begged my pardon humbly. I am sure, I am sure he repented that he had breathed a suspicion against my poor girl!" "Pardon me," I said, "for asking you a question which, in any other circumstances, would not cross my lips; but it will be as well for me to put it to you. You yourself had no appointment with her on that night?" "No," cried Carton indignantly, "as Heaven is my judge! I never met her, I never proposed to meet her, at such an hour!" "I am certain of it. And yet--receive this calmly, if you can--and yet she must have gone out late on that night for some purpose or other." "There is the mystery," said Carton mournfully, "and I have thought and thought about it without being able to find a key to it. There must have been a trap set for her--a devilish trap to ensnare her." "I think so myself. Otherwise it is not likely she would have left her home, as she must have done, secretly. Now, a word or two about Mrs. Dowsett and Letitia." "When you woke up on Saturday morning you found that they had gone to Margate?" "Yes." "Did you know on the day before that they were going?" "No, nothing was said about it. It was quite sudden." "Was Mrs. Dowsett or her daughter ill? Did they go into the country for their health?" "Not to my knowledge." "Were they in the habit of going away suddenly?" "O, no; they had never done so before." "What explanation did your guardian give?" "He said that Letitia had been suffering in secret for some time, and that her mother thought a change would do her good." "Did he tell you where they had gone to?" "No, he did not mention the place. I learnt it from one of the servants." "So that afterwards he was forced to be frank with you?" "I don't understand you."