"Had he known for long?" was her next question.
It met with no immediate answer. Duplay rose abruptly and walked to the mantelpiece; he leant his arm on it and turned half away from the group at the table.
"Had he known for long?" Cecily repeated.
"Ever so long," answered Mina Zabriska in a low voice, but very confidently.
"Ah, he was waiting till Lady Tristram died?"
Iver nodded; he thought what she suggested a very good explanation to accept. It was plausible and sensible; it equipped Harry Tristram with a decent excuse for his past silence, and a sound reason for the moment of his disclosure. He looked at Neeld and found ready acquiescence in the old gentleman's approving nod. But Mina broke out impatiently—
"No, no, that had nothing to do with it. He never meant to speak. Blent was all the world to him. He never meant to speak." A quick remembrance flashed across her. "Were you with him in the Long Gallery last night?" she cried. "With him there for hours?"
"Yes, we were there."
"Yes, I saw you from the terrace here. Did he tell you there?"