You know her habit of toying, when she had no knitting or
needlework. In the course of playing with it (we suggest) she tried to
pull the knife out of its sheath; failed; held it up, so, point upward;
pulled again; pulled harder--with a jerk, at last the sheath came off;
the dagger sprang up; it wounded Clara fatally. Hugo, knowing that they
had disagreed, knowing that the servants had heard, and seeing her
fall suddenly dead before him, was seized with horror--the Le Geyt
impulsiveness!--lost his head; rushed out; fancied the accident would be
mistaken for murder. But why? A Q.C., don't you know! Recently married!
Most attached to his wife. It is plausible, isn't it?"
"So plausible," I answered, looking it straight in the face, "that... it
has but one weak point. We might make a coroner's jury or even a common
jury accept it, on Sebastian's expert evidence. Sebastian can work
wonders; but we could never make--"
Hilda Wade finished the sentence for me as I paused: "Hugo Le Geyt
consent to advance it."
I lowered my head. "You have said it," I answered.
"Not for the children's sake?" Mrs. Mallet cried, with clasped hands.
"Not for the children's sake, even," I answered.
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