"
"Is the letter written by a man or a woman?"
"I can't say. Women write in so masculine a way nowadays. It
might be either. But why were you at the cottage--"
"I was not. I went to explore the unfinished house on behalf
of Lord Caranby. I was ghost-hunting. Do you remember how
you asked me next day why I wore an overcoat and I explained
that I had a cold--"
"Yes. You said you got it from sitting in a hot room."
"I got it from hunting round the unfinished house at Rexton.
I did not think it necessary to explain further."
Juliet put her hand to her head. "Oh, how I suffered on that
day," she said. "I was watching for you all the afternoon.
When you came I thought you might voluntarily explain why you
were at Rexton on the previous night. But you did not, and I
believed your silence to be a guilty one. Then, when the
letter arrived--"
"When did it arrive?"
"A week after the crime was committed."
"Well," said Cuthbert, rather pained, "I can hardly blame you.
But if you loved me--"
"I do love you," she said with a passionate cry. "Have I not
proved my love by bearing--as I thought--your burden?
Could I do more? Would a woman who loves as I do accuse the
man she loves of a horrible crime? I strove to shield you
from your enemies."
"I thought you were shielding Basil. Jennings thought so
also."
Juliet drew back, looking paler than ever. "What do you know
of him."
"Very little," said Cuthbert quickly.
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