There came a sudden burst of excited chatter from the women as they passed beyond the door into the back of the Castle. All their tongues seemed to be loosed at once. Mr. Manley went out of the Castle door, crossed the drive, and walked up and down the lawn. He took long breaths through his nostrils; the sight of the dead man's yellowish face had been unpleasant indeed to a man of his sensibility. In about five minutes Elizabeth Twitcher came out of the big door and across the lawn to him. She was looking startled and scared. "Mrs. Carruthers said you wished to speak to me, sir?" she said quickly. "Yes. I propose to break the news of this very shocking affair to Lady Loudwater myself. She's rather fragile, I fancy. And I think that it needs doing with the greatest possible tact--so as to lessen the shock," said Mr. Manley in an impressive voice. Elizabeth Twitcher gazed at him with a growing suspicion in her eyes. Then she said: "It isn't--it isn't a trap?" "A trap? What kind of a trap? What on earth do you mean?" said Mr. Manley, in a not unnatural bewilderment at the odd suggestion. "You might be trying to take her off her guard," said Elizabeth Twitcher in a tone of deep suspicion. "Her guard against what?" said Mr. Manley, still bewildered. Elizabeth's Twitcher's eyes lost some of their suspicion, and he heard her breathe a faint sigh of relief. "I thought as 'ow--as how some of them might have told you what his lordship was going to do to her, and that she--she stuck that knife into him so as to stop it," she said. "What on earth are you talking about? What was his lordship going to do to her?" cried Mr. Manley, in a tone of yet greater bewilderment. "He was going to divorce her ladyship. He told her so last night when I was doing her hair for dinner," said Elizabeth Twitcher. She paused and stared at him, frowning. Then she went on: "And, like a fool, I went and talked about it--to some one else." Mr. Manley glared at her in a momentary speechlessness; then found his voice and cried: "But, gracious heavens! You don't suspect her ladyship of having murdered Lord Loudwater?" "No, I don't. But there'll be plenty as will," said Elizabeth Twitcher with conviction. "It's absurd!" cried Mr. Manley. Elizabeth Twitcher shook her head. "You must allow as she had reason enough--for a lady, that is. He was always swearing at her and abusing her, and it isn't at all the kind of thing a lady can stand. And this divorce coming on the top of it all," she said in a dispassionate tone. "You mustn't talk like this! There's no saying what trouble you may make!" cried Mr. Manley in a tone of stern severity. "I'm not going to talk like that--only to you, sir. You're a gentleman, and it's safe. What I'm afraid of is that I've talked too much already--last night that is," she said despondently.