“I never ask him questions like that. I knew he was to attend to some business for Uncle the next day, but I never ask him what he does evenings when he is in the city, or at any time when he is not with me.” “But surely one might ask such questions of the man to whom she is betrothed.” Miss Lloyd again put on that little air of hauteur which always effectually stopped my “impertinence.” “It is not my habit,” she said. “What Gregory wishes me to know he tells me of his own accord.” XIV. MR. PORTER'S VIEWS I began on a new tack. “Miss Lloyd, why did you tell an untruth, and say you did not come down-stairs again, after going up at ten o'clock?” Her hauteur disappeared. A frightened, appealing look came into her eyes, and she looked to me like a lovely child afraid of unseen dangers. “I was afraid,” she confessed. “Yes, truly, I was afraid that they would think I had something to do with the--with Uncle Joseph's death. And as I didn't think it could do any good to tell of my little visit to him, I just said I didn't come down. Oh, I know it was a lie--I know it was wicked--but I was so frightened, and it was such an easy way out of it, just to deny it.” “And why have you confessed it to me now?” Her eyes opened wide in astonishment. “I told you why,” she said: “so you would know where the rose leaves came from, and not suspect Gregory.” “Do you suspect him?” “N-no, of course not. But others might.” It is impossible to describe the dismay that smote my heart at the hesitation of this answer. It was more than hesitation. It was a conflict of unspoken impulses, and the words, when they were uttered, seemed to carry hidden meanings, and to my mind they carried the worst and most sinister meaning conceivable. To me, it seemed to point unmistakably to collusion between Florence Lloyd, whom I already loved, and Gregory Hall, whom I already distrusted and disliked. Guilty collusion between these two would explain everything. Theirs the motive, theirs the opportunity, theirs the denials and false witnessing. The gold bag, as yet, remained unexplained, but the yellow rose petals and the late newspaper could be accounted for if Hall had come out on the midnight train, and Florence had helped him to enter and leave the house unseen. Bah! it was impossible. And, any way, the gold bag remained as proof against this horrid theory. I would pin my faith to the gold bag, and through its presence in the room, I would defy suspicions of the two people I had resolved to protect. “What do you think about the gold bag?” I asked. “I don't know what to think. I hate to accuse Uncle Joseph of such a thing, but it seems as if some woman friend of his must have come to the office after I left. The long French windows were open--it was a warm night, you know--and any one could have come and gone unseen.” “The bag wasn't there when you were there?”