"I can scarcely say what. He is a villain, of course; but why, or what he could gain by it, is a mystery." "Do you remember any thing that you can now recall which in any way looks like villainy?" "No, not one thing; and that is the trouble with me." "Did he ever have any quarrel of any kind with any of you?" "Never." "Was any thing ever done which he could have taken as an insult or an injury?" "He was never treated in any other way than with the most scrupulous politeness. My father, my sister, and myself were all incapable of treating him in any other way." "What was your sister's usual manner toward him?" "Her manner? Oh, the usual dignified courtesy of a lady to an inferior." "Did he seem to be a gentleman?" "A gentleman? Of course not." "He could not have imagined himself slighted, then, by any humiliation?" "Certainly not." "Could Gualtier have had any knowledge of your pecuniary affairs?" "Possibly--in a general way." [Illustration: Interview Between The Chief Of Police And Zillah.] "You are rich, are you not?" "Yes." "Might he not have had some design on your money?" "I have thought of that; but there are insuperable difficulties. There is, first, my sister; and, again, even if she had not escaped, how could he ever get possession of the property?" The chief did not answer this. He went on to ask his own questions. "Did you ever hear of the loss of any of your money in any way--by theft, or by forgery?" "No." "Did any thing of the kind take place in your father's lifetime?" "Nothing of the kind whatever." "Do you know any thing about the antecedents of your maid Mathilde?" "No; nothing except what little information she may have volunteered. I never had any curiosity about the matter." "What is her full name?" "Mathilde Louise Grassier." "Where does she belong?" "She said once that she was born in Rouen; and I suppose she was brought up there, too, from her frequent references to that place. I believe she went from there to Paris, as lady's-maid in an English family, and from thence to London." "How did you happen to get her?" "My father obtained her for me in London." "What is her character? Is she cunning?" "Not as far as I have ever seen. She always struck me as being quite weak out of her own particular department. She was an excellent lady's-maid, but in other respects quite a child." "Might she not have been very deep, nevertheless?" "It is possible. I am not much of a judge of character; but, as far as I could see, she was simply a weak, good-natured creature. I don't think she would willingly do wrong; but I think she might be very easily terrified or persuaded. I think her flight from me was the work of Gualtier." "Did she ever have any thing to do with him?"