"'It's not that I want to know,' he said. 'What _made_ me go into a fit? I never had a fit before, as I remember. O Fanny, is it all a dream?' "'Lemon,' I answered, 'you must ask your conscience; I can't answer you. You come home with a evening paper in your pocket, a-moaning and crying, and you ketches hold of me, and looks round as if a ghost had follered you into the room, and then you falls down in your fit.' "'And him?' he said, pointing to the ceiling. 'Him--Devlin? Was he with me? Did he see me while I was in the fit?' "'No,' I answered. 'He come home after we'd got you to bed, and said he wanted to see you; but I wouldn't let him. I whipped up-stairs here, and turned the key, so as he shouldn't git at you.' "'You did right, you did right. Was he angry?' "'If he was, he didn't show it. He kep with me a long time, talking about the--the----' "'About the what?' asked Lemon, the perspiration breaking out on him. "'About the murder! Well may you shiver! It was in the newspaper you brought home with you, and he read it out loud, and talked about it in a way as froze my blood.' "'Blood!' groaned Lemon, 'Blood! O Fanny, Fanny!' "He is my husband, sir, and he was suffering, and I ain't ashamed to say that I took him in my arms, and tried to comfort him. "'One word, Lemon,' I said, 'only one word before we go on. You ain't guilty, are you?' "'Guilty?' he answered, but speaking quite soft; we neither of us raised our voices above a whisper 'My God, no! How could I be? Wasn't I at home and abed when it was done? O, it's horrible! horrible! and I don't know what to think.' "'Thank God, you're innocent!' I said, and I was so grateful in my heart that my eyes brimmed over. 'And you didn't have nothing to do with the planning of it? Tell me that.' "'No, Fanny,' he said. '_Him_ up-stairs there--did _he_ sleep at home last night?' "'Unless there's something going on too awful to think of,' I said, 'he did. I ain't been in bed, Lemon, since home you come yesterday and had your fit. And here in this room I've been setting with you from the time I put the chain on the street-door last night till now. I've only left you once--to take in the milk at seven o'clock this morning, and then the chain was on; it hadn't been touched. No one went out of this house last night by the street-door.' "'They couldn't have gone out no other way,' said Lemon. "'I don't see how they could,' I said, though I had my thoughts. "'And the night before, Fanny,' said Lemon, and now he looked at me as if life and death was in my answer, 'the night it was done, did he sleep at home then?'