Judithe opened the door and looked in; seeing that McVeigh was apparently occupied, and not alone, she was about to retire when he begged her to remain for a few minutes. He avoided her questioning eyes, and offered her a chair, with that conventional courtesy reserved for strangers. She noted the papers in his hand, and the odd tones in which he spoke; she was, after all, debarred from confessing; she was to be accused! "A slight mystery is abroad here, and you appear to be the victim of it, Madame," he said, without looking at her. "Margeret, last night when Miss Loring sent you into the corridor just before the shot was fired, did you see any of the ladies or servants of the house?" "No, sir." There was not the slightest hesitation in the reply, but Judithe turned her eyes on the woman with unusual interest. Colonel McVeigh consulted his notes. "Miss Loring distinctively heard the rustle of a woman's dress as her door opened; did you hear that?" "No, sir." "You saw no one and heard no one?" "No one." There was a pause, during which he regarded the woman very sharply. Judithe arose. "Only your sister or myself could have been in that corridor without passing Miss Loring's door; is Miss Loring suspicious of us?--Miss Loring!"--and her tone was beyond her control, indignant; of all others, Miss Loring! "Margeret, whatever you saw, whatever you heard in that corridor, you must tell Colonel McVeigh--tell him!" Margeret turned a calm glance towards her for a moment, and quietly said, "I have told him, Madame Caron; there was no one in the corridor." "Very well; that is all I wanted to know." His words were intended for dismissal, but she only bent her head and walked back to the window, as Masterson entered with Monroe. The latter bowed to Judithe with more than usual ceremony, but did not speak. Then he turned a nonchalant glance towards McVeigh, and waited. The Colonel looked steadily at Judithe as he said: "Captain Monroe, did you know Madame Caron before you met her in my house? You do not answer! Madame Caron, may I ask you if you knew Captain Monroe previous to yesterday?" "Quite well," she replied, graciously; there was almost an air of bravado in her glance. She had meant to tell him all; had begged him to listen, but since he preferred to question her before these men, and at the probable suggestion of Miss Loring--well! Masterson drew a breath of relief as she spoke. His Colonel must now exonerate him of any unfounded suspicions; but Monroe regarded her with somber, disapproving eyes. "Then," and his tone chilled her; it has in it such a suggestion of what justice he would mete out to her when he knew all; "then I am, under the circumstances, obliged to ask why you acknowledged the introduction given by Miss Loring?"