"Strange that she should have named that sum. A mere coincidence." "A coincidence that she happened on the same day to have a chance of securing the £20." "I do not believe— Why should she not have asked me to help her brother." "It would be very cool if she did, I think. There is no real tie: and these Andersons have no claim upon you." "These Andersons!" The Doctor could have laughed, if he had been less unhappy. He loved Lettice as his own child. "Are you absolutely sure that nobody except Lettice was in the room for a moment alone?" Theodosia wished now that she had not left Felix alone there. She did not desire to divert suspicion from Lettice to Felix, though she had had that possibility in reserve. Moreover, she had managed thus far to avoid the more direct form of falsehood, though each step had been an acted lie; and there was a momentary hesitation before she answered in the negative. Dr. Bryant noted the hesitation. "No one?" he asked sharply. "Lettice would not have been, but that I took her brother into the conservatory for a few minutes." To herself, Theodosia added, "If it is found out, I can say that I forgot." Like all who leave the firm path of truth, she was getting deeper and deeper into the quicksands of falsehood. "You are sure! No one?" "It is the strangest thing!" and Dr. Bryant sighed heavily. "I would have trusted her with any amount of uncounted gold . . . I do not, in fact, believe it yet." "She doesn't seem able to do much in the way of clearing herself." "That is the perplexity. If she denied it, I should not feel a moment's doubt." "I should!" murmured Theodosia, loud enough to be heard. The separation between Lettice and her husband, for which she had craved, seemed now to lie within a measurable distance. Yet Theodosia could not feel happy. A dark shadow hung over her, the fruit of her own ill-doing. Conscience worked uneasily, and the dread of detection was a haunting companion. Lettice's non-denial of the deed puzzled Theodosia, even more than it puzzled her husband, because she knew, as he did not, that it could not be due to guilt. Not until late that night did a clue to the mystery occur to her mind, in the shape of a suggestion. Did Lettice fear to direct suspicion towards Felix by diverting it from herself? "If that is it, I am safe," thought Theodosia. "Lettice will never let out that he was left alone in the room." Was she not rather in deadly peril?