rew, I take it, sat here in this chair"--he seated
himself forthwith at the desk, and looked about him. "And you, Mr.
Duggan, were in the centre, opposite, with your sister here at your
left. You were at your husband's right hand, a little way back, Lady
Paula? Oh, I see--just halfway behind his chair, in case he might need
you. Of course, of course. The right position for a lord's lady to
be.... Now, let me see. You, Miss Dowd, stood at the left hand, right
back against the wall, with Miss Debenham on _your_ left--oh, a little
forward, eh? And Miss McCall on the other side of her. That's it. Now, I
suppose, we are all in our places. Now, Mr. Narkom, if you'd be so good
as to take up my present position and represent the ill-fated gentleman
for one moment, I'll hop up and look about a bit. The scene's set, and
we'll try and reconstruct the drama from anything any one would like to
tell me. I believe one of the windows was open, was it not, Lady
Paula?"

He turned to her so swiftly that she was taken back, and in her
nervousness went a shade pale under her olive tan.

"I--don't know, Mr. Deland. I really never noticed...."

"But _I_ did." It was Catherine Dowd who spoke, a note of decision in
her clear voice. "The centre window was open, Mr. Deland--from the
bottom. Wide open."

"Yes--of course it was," Maud Duggan broke in excitedly. "I remember
noticing how the curtains blew while poor Father was speaking. Don't
you, Ross?"

He shook his head miserably.

"I don't remember anything but what actually took place," he returned,
in a low, unhappy voice. "I was so furious, Maud; you must remember the
ignominy of--of Father calling in everyone like this to see my name
struck out of the will! If he'd done it in private, even, it would not
have been so bad, but in front of others, people who were not of our
family"--his glance travelled from Johanna's mouse-like countenance to
the inscrutable Catherine's. "It--it seemed hardly cricket to me, and I
was boiling over. I wish to God I hadn't been! It would have made it
much easier to bear--now!"

"My poor Ross!"

Cynthia's voice, very low and tender, crept across to him, and he gave
her a weary smile in acknowledgment.

"Well, now," said Cleek evenly, "let's start away at this wretched
affair. Mr. Duggan, you were the only other gentleman present besides
your father. Perhaps you will tell me how things went. The ladies look
somewhat pale. It's rather an ordeal, I'm afra