an you
not see why she asked you to proceed no further in the case for
your--own sake. I thought she was shielding her brother. It is you
she believes guilty--"

"And therefore will not marry me?"

"No. I don't think for one moment she cares about that. When a woman
loves a man she will stick to him through thick and thin. If he is a
regular Cain, she will marry him. Bless the whole sex, they are the
staunchest of friends when they love. No, Mallow, in some way Mrs.
Octagon has learned that you have killed her--"

"But I never did--I never did. I told you everything."

"What you told me may have been told to Mrs. Octagon with additions.
She thinks you guilty, and therefore has threatened to denounce you
unless Juliet gives you up. She has done so, therefore Mrs. Octagon
holds her bitter tongue."

"But her reason for wishing to break off the marriage."

"We discussed that before. In the first place, you are Caranby's
nephew and she hates him. In the second, she and Basil want the
fingering of the six thousand a year left by Miss Loach. Should you
marry Miss Saxon, they know well you will look after her interests,
therefore they don't wish the match to take place. I am not quite sure
if this is Basil's plan, or if he knows so much, but I am quite certain
that the scheme is of Mrs. Octagon's concoction. But now you can see
why Miss Saxon behaved so strangely."

"She has no right to take up such a position," cried Cuthbert, with a
fierce look. "She should have been plain with me and have accused me
to my face."

"Do you think a woman cares to accuse the man she loves? Besides, Mrs.
Octagon may have forced her to keep silence, so as to make the matter
more difficult for you. The only way in which you can clear up matters
is to see Miss Saxon and insist on an explanation."

"And if she won't give it?"

"I think she will this time," said Jennings with a grim smile. "By now
she must have discovered her loss, and she knows well enough that the
knife is in my possession. Already she knows that I threatened to
arrest you--"

"But you would never do that."

"I would if it meant the clearing of your character. I tell you,
Mallow, you are in danger. There is a conspiracy against you, and the
using of your knife to kill that old woman proves it. To prepare the
ground for an accusation, someone stole it. You must fight, man, or
your enemies may bring about your arrest, in spite of all I can do."

M