“I am absolutely ignorant. I can’t conceive how she met her death. It is only reasonable to suppose that she had a life and friends of whom I knew nothing. Where she went, after she left my house, I do not know. I guessed she was going to Anita’s because she would not leave England without saying good-bye: she was very much attached to Anita.” “How long after your baby was born were you married to Lord Raytham?” Jane considered. “About ten months,” she said. “Did you go to Reno personally?” “Yes,” Jane said. “That was one of the queer coincidences of it all. My father had a small farm near Reno, just a shack and a few acres of ground, and this was accepted as a residential qualification. Of course, I had to lie desperately and say I was living there all the time, and really I believed the divorce would go through. I even appeared in court and gave my evidence, and I thought that the thing was settled, until Anita saw me outside the court-house and told me that my lawyers had made a bungle and that the divorce could not be granted without serving some papers upon Peter. I went straight away with her; her automobile was waiting, for I was scared of the reporters, who were all the time hunting marriage romances for their newspapers. Besides, the baby was coming. I was frightened that people would know.” “And you returned immediately?” Jane nodded. “Yes; I went to Cumberland from Liverpool. Anita discovered the place. It was some time after Christmas; I remember that I was in New York on Christmas Day.” “There is one final question, Jane, and then I’ll stop being a mark of interrogation and take you out to lunch. That is, if you don’t mind being seen in public with a Scotland Yard female?” “If you wish,” said Jane, with the first spark of animation she had shown, “I will eat my lunch out of a paper bag with you, seated on top of one of Landseer’s lions!” “This is the question,” said Leslie, slowly and deliberately. “Marriage with Lord Raytham was in the air, wasn’t it, and you had discussed it with Anita?” Jane nodded. “And did she know of your intention of marrying Raytham whether the divorce was granted or not? Please think very carefully before you answer.” “There’s no need to think very carefully. I told Anita that I should marry Raytham whether the divorce was granted or not. I salved my conscience by expressing doubt as to the validity of the marriage.” Leslie leaned back in her chair with a large and happy smile. “You’re a wicked conspirator, a perfectly horrible mother, and not a tremendous success in any of your matrimonial ventures!” She slipped her arm round the woman’s waist and kissed her on the cheek. “But you’re rather a darling. We’ll lunch at the Pall Mall, which is terribly nice for women, and we’ll occupy the afternoon with a movie. I love the movies--especially the romantic ones!”