"Yes, ma'am. She told me to."
Then she was a prisoner.
Confounded by the mystery of the whole affair, I sat so still the woman looked up in wonder, and I saw I had better continue my questions.
"What reason did she give for wanting to stay in the house all night?"
"What reason, ma'am? I don't know. Something about her having to be there when Mr. Van Burnam came home. I didn't make it out, and I didn't try to. I was too busy wondering what she would have to eat."
"And what did she have?"
"I don't know, ma'am. She said she had something, but I didn't see it."
"Perhaps you were blinded by the money she gave you. She gave you some, of course?"
"O, not much, ma'am, not much. And I wouldn't have taken a cent if it had not seemed to make her so happy to give it. The pretty, pretty thing! A real lady, whatever they say about her!"
"And happy? You said she was happy, cheerful-looking, and pretty."