Therefore I kept away and held my tongue."
"But if you had told me this long ago--"
"How could I?" she cried vehemently. "Could I come and say to
you, I believe you are a murderer?"
"Did you believe that, Juliet?" he asked in a grieved tone.
"Yes and no," she faltered. "Oh, Cuthbert, you know how I
love you. I could not bring myself to think you were guilty--
and yet the proofs are so strong. You were at Rose Cottage
at a quarter to eleven--"
"No. I was there at a quarter past ten."
"I tell you I saw you at a quarter to eleven. You were getting
over the wall into the park. Then there was the knife--your knife."
"How did you know it was mine?"
"By the notches. You told me you always cut three notches on
the handle of any weapon you possessed. One day when mother
and I came to afternoon tea at your place you showed me some
of your weapons--the knife amongst them. One knife is much
like another, and I would not have noticed but for the notches
and for the fact that I saw you on that night. I hid the
knife and Mr. Jennings--"
"He found it," said Mallow. "Quite so. He told me he did.
When you left the attic he contrived to--"
"Then the closing of the door was a trick," said Juliet in an
agitated tone. "I might have guessed that. He took the
knife. He has threatened to arrest you, so Miss Garthorne
says."
"She says rightly," replied Mallow, thinking it best to make
use of all he knew, so as to force her to speak freely.
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