"That is a subterfuge," said Mrs. Ward. "You did not expect to find me waiting for you, and you never meant that dagger to be discovered, Lord Derrington." "I certainly never did," he assented heartily. "I cannot imagine how you came to know more than I did." "What do you mean?" asked the little woman, sharply. "Well, you see," said Lord Derrington, quietly, "this is a very clever bit of business on your part, but so far as I am concerned it has nothing to do with me. I never saw that weapon before." "Oh, that's rubbish!" said Mrs. Ward with a mirthless laugh. "I found it in the pocket of your fur coat on the very----" "You say you found it there," said Derrington, meaningly. "Do you deny that it was in the pocket?" "Certainly. Had it been in the pocket I should have known it was there. But it was not in the pocket." Mrs. Ward stared. "You are very brazen," she said; "you knew it was there all the time." "In the pocket?" asked Derrington, politely and perfectly calm. Mrs. Ward hesitated. Then she faced him defiantly. "I am so sure of my ground," she declared, "that I don't mind saying it wasn't exactly in the pocket. There was a hole in the pocket and the dagger had slipped down into the lining between the inside fur and the outer cloth. It lay sideways, and what with its position and the heavy fur----" "I could not have known it was there," finished Derrington, balancing a paper-cutter on his forefinger. "You have found a mare's nest, my dear Mrs. Ward, and if this is your trump card I am sorry to say it won't take the trick you wish to secure. I did not know that this--" he touched the stiletto--"was in the lining of my fur coat." "Then it was, and Mrs. Jersey was stabbed with it." "Isn't that taking a great deal for granted?" said Derrington, with raised brows. "Mrs. Jersey, according to the doctor, if I recall the report of the inquest rightly, was certainly stabbed with a weapon similar to this. But why do you say this is the one?" "Because I believe you were in the house on that night." "Which house? Be explicit, please." Mrs. Ward was growing angry at this calm defiance. "In the house in Amelia Square. You went there to prevent that Brendon creature from making Mrs. Jersey confess." Lord Derrington laughed. "You would not make a good lawyer," said he. "By your own showing I did not know that Brendon was to be at Mrs. Jersey's on that night." "I certainly came to tell you," said Mrs. Ward, feeling that she had missed a point, "but you could easily have heard it elsewhere." "Who from? Brendon did not advertise in the papers that he was stopping with Mrs. Jersey on the night in question." "Then Mr. Train----" "I met Mr. Train for the first time at your house the other night." "Dorothy told you," said Mrs. Ward, determined not to surrender any advantage she might have gained. "You can ask your daughter and she will tell you that I had not seen her all that week. Is there any one else, Mrs. Ward?"