Detective and mystery stories; Stone, Fleming (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
“No; nothing more was said about it after that.”
“Will the making of a new will by Mr. Crawford affect yourself in any
way, Mrs. Pierce?”
“No,” she replied, “Mr. Crawford left me a small bequest in his earlier
will and I had reason to think he would do the same in a later will,
even though he changed his intentions regarding Florence.”
“Miss Lloyd thoroughly believed that he intended to carry out his threat
last evening?”
“She didn't say so to me, but Mr. Crawford spoke so decidedly on the
matter, that I think both she and I believed he was really going to
carry out his threat at last.”
“When Mr. Crawford left the house, did you and Miss Lloyd know where he
was going?”
“We knew no more than he had said at the table. He said nothing when he
went away.”
“How did you and Miss Lloyd spend the remainder of the evening?”
“It was but a short evening. We sat in the music-room for a time, but at
about ten o'clock we both went up to our rooms.”
“Had Mr. Crawford returned then?”
“Yes, he came in perhaps an hour earlier. We heard him come in at the
front door, and go at once to his office.”
“You did not see him, or speak to him?”
“We did not. He had a caller during the evening. It was Mr. Porter, I
have since learned.”
“Did Miss Lloyd express no interest as to whether he had changed his
will or not?”
“Miss Lloyd didn't mention the will, or her engagement, to me at all. We
talked entirely of other matters.”
“Was Miss Lloyd in her usual mood or spirits?”
“She seemed a little quiet, but not at all what you might call worried.”
“Was not this strange when she was fully expecting to be deprived of her
entire fortune?”
“It was not strange for Miss Lloyd. She rarely talks of her own affairs.
We spent an evening similar in all respects to our usual evening when we
do not have guests.”
“And you both went upstairs at ten. Was that unusually early for you?”
“Well, unless we have guests, we often go at ten or half-past ten.”
“And did you see Miss Lloyd again that night?”
“Yes; about half an hour later, I went to her room for a book I wanted.”
“Miss Lloyd had not retired?”
“No; she asked me to sit down for awhile and chat.”
“Did you do so?”
“Only for a few moments. I was interested in the book I had come for,
and I wanted to take it away to my own room to read.”
“And Miss Lloyd, then, did not seem dispirited or in any way in an
unusual mood?”
“Not that I noticed. I wasn't quizzing her or looking into her eyes to
see what her thoughts were, for it didn't occur to me to do so. I
knew her uncle had dealt her a severe blow, but as she didn't open
the subject, of course I couldn't discuss it with her. But I did think
perhaps she wanted to be by herself to consider the matter, and that was
one reason why I didn't stay and chat as she had asked me to.”
“Perhaps she really wanted to discuss the matter with you.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account