The shock would have been a terrible one for any father. It must have been doubly so for a man who had lived for so many years out of the world, ignoring the changes that had come about since his youth. The whole story must have taken him out of his bearings. The society in which night clubs flourish, and girls as young as Violet are found in them, was as strange to him as it would have been to any parent of the Victorian age. I could see his mood turning from surprise and bewilderment into growing fury as he listened. And his anger was no longer directed against Tarleton and myself. “It comes to this, that my daughter’s name is mixed up with a murder case,” he exploded at last. “If she is not actually under suspicion her clothes are. Violet!” The stricken girl turned beseeching eyes on him. “Unless you can assure me that you had no more to do with this business than I had, you shan’t pass another night under this roof.” The injustice of it nearly stung me into speech. The Earl had done nothing to deserve his daughter’s confidence. He had let her grow up a stranger to him. He had handed her over to a mercenary with no qualifications beyond those of a drill-sergeant or a prison warder. And he was ablaze with wrath because she had grown into a living creature with blood in her veins, instead of a wooden doll. Violet’s eyes filled with tears. “What do you want me to say?” she implored. “I didn’t even know that Dr. Weathered was dead till these gentlemen told me.” “You knew him, it seems. What did you go to him for? You haven’t been ill.” I began to feel anxious for myself as well as her. But she replied with unexpected spirit. “I went to him as a doctor. He was a nerve specialist, and I went to him about my nerves.” “Nerves!” His lordship spat out the word in scorn. “A girl of your age has no business with nerves. Did you tell Miss Pollexfen that you were suffering from nerves?” “No.” Violet flared up with a touch of her father. “Why should I? Miss Pollexfen is no friend of mine. I didn’t choose her for a companion. I am old enough to decide for myself whether I want to see a doctor, without consulting her.” Lord Ledbury was clearly taken aback. He can have had no real suspicion that his daughter had done anything seriously wrong, or he would hardly have cross-examined her before us. Little as he loved her, regard for his own good name would have made him refrain from going on. “So you consider yourself independent, do you?” He pointed to the clothes. “Have you lent these things--to anyone?” I held my breath. I dared not make the least sign to Violet. And if I had, she would not have seen it. She kept her eyes steadily fixed on her father’s. “Yes.” It was the wisest answer to give now that so much had come out. A falsehood must have been detected in a few hours. “Tell me her name.” My heart seemed to stop beating. There was a tense pause in which the air of the room vibrated with suspense. Then the girl slowly shook her head.