"Mrs. Beatson is a sly creature, who will not give herself away easily," returned the barrister dryly. "I shall continue to watch her. There's ten o'clock, Hendle," he added, as the mellow tones of the church bell floated through the warm night. "We must not keep Miss Mallien from her beauty sleep." Dorinda did not suggest that they should remain, although she would have liked to speak privately with her lover. But while Carrington was at his elbow, that was impossible, and she did not wish to talk freely in the presence of a man she mistrusted. The two young men said good-night to their hostess and went away, leaving Dorinda in anything but a happy frame of mind. What had been suggested about her father trading with the housekeeper worried her considerably. There might or might not be some truth in the idea. She tried to dismiss it from her mind; but it would not be dismissed, and troubled her far into the small hours of the morning. Meanwhile, Rupert and his friend sauntered leisurely homeward. It was so hot that they did not wear coats over their evening suit, and so dry underfoot that they walked to and from the cottage in shoes. The sky was radiant with innumerable stars, and although there was no moon, there was ample light in which to see surrounding objects. Through the shadowy world, warm and peaceful, the young men wandered, taking their way across the fields, as the high-road was so dusty and hard. For a time neither spoke, for each was busy with his own thoughts, which had to do with the case. Finally, Carrington broke the silence, and spoke soft, as though he feared listeners. "I did not press my point, Hendle," he remarked significantly, "as the little I did say rather offended Miss Mallien." "You were rather libellous about her father, you know, Carrington." "If the saying, that the greater the truth the greater the libel is true, I certainly was," retorted the barrister, "for what I said I hold to." "That Mrs. Beatson is the guilty person?" "Yes. And that she is trading with Mallien to give him what he wants." "The will?" "Of course. I am as certain of that fact as I am that I live. She has the will, and she intends to deliver it to him--if she hasn't done so already--on condition that he gives her the two hundred a year annuity, which she told her son comes from a mythical aunt." "Well," said Rupert, after a pause, "since Mallien was willing to come to terms with me, I see no reason why he should not come to terms with Mrs. Beatson, always provided that she is guilty." "She is," insisted Carrington bluntly. "It is no use my giving you my reasons again, I think." "If things are as you say I don't see how Mrs. Beatson's part of the business can be concealed. The will is of no use to Mallien unless he makes it public. And if he does, he will have to explain how he became possessed of it. I suppose his confession of the deal with Mrs. Beatson would bring him into trouble as an accessory-after-the-fact?"