to tell of.

"Well, then," she went on, "I will tell you, for I know it need not
be repeated in the furtherance of justice. I did go down to my uncle's
office that night, after Mrs. Pierce had been to my room; and it was
I--it must have been I--who dropped those rose petals."

"And left the bag," I suggested.

"No," she said, and her face looked perplexed, but not confused. "No,
the bag is not mine, and I did not leave it there. I know nothing of it,
absolutely nothing. But I did go to the office at about eleven
o'clock. I had a talk with my uncle, and I left him there a half-hour
later--alive and well as when I went in."

"Was your conversation about your engagement?"

"Yes."

"Was it amicable?"

"No, it was not! Uncle Joseph was more angry than I had ever before seen
him. He declared he intended to make a new will the next morning, which
would provide only a small income for me. He said this was not revenge
or punishment for my loyalty to Mr. Hall, but--but--"

"But what?" I urged gently.

"It scarcely seems loyal to Mr. Hall for me to say it," she returned,
and the tears were in her eyes. "But this is all confidential. Well,
Uncle Joseph said that Gregory only wanted to marry me for my fortune,
and that the new will would prove this. Of course I denied that Mr. Hall
was so mercenary, and then we had a good deal of an altercation. But
it was not very different from many discussions we had had on the same
subject, only Uncle was more decided, and said he had asked Mr. Randolph
to come the next morning and draw up the new will. I left him still
angry--he wouldn't even say good-night to me--and now I blame myself for
not being more gentle, and trying harder to make peace. But it annoyed
me to have him call Gregory mercenary--"

"Because you knew it was true," I said quietly.

She turned white to the very lips. "You are unnecessarily impertinent,"
she said.

"I am," I agreed. "I beg your pardon." But I had discovered that she did
realize her lover's true nature.

"And then you went to your room, and stayed there?" I went on, with a
meaning emphasis on the last clause.

"Yes," she said; "and so, you see, what I have told you casts no light
on the mystery. I only told you so as to explain the bits of the yellow
rose. I feared, from what you said, that Mr. Hall's name might possibly
be brought into discussion."

"Why, he was not in West Sedgwick that night," I said.

"Where was he?" she countered quickl