Judith knelt at her side. "Tell me, dear?" she begged.
Beth, clasping Judith's hand and feeling the comfort of her sympathy, told the story of that meeting at the Judge's—told the whole of it. Had she done right in giving back the ring?
Judith assured her that she had.
"That is not all," said Beth. "I thought that I gave it back because he had been—untrue, yet that I loved him just the same. But, Judith, I have been thinking—you have seen me thinking?"
"Yes, dear," Judith answered. "What have you thought?"
Beth pressed her hands. "You must tell me if I am right. For I seem almost hard-hearted, sometimes. Judith, why did the Judge die?"
Judith looked at her with startled eyes. "It killed him!"
Beth nodded solemnly. "It killed him, or did—they!"
"They!" Judith cried.