“Yes. That’s my bedroom window over there—I’ve left the gas up—and I saw you get through the hedge. So I came down. They’d all gone off to bed except Tom, and I told him I was just going a walk in the garden for a bit. They never worry me, you know. They let me alone. I knew you’d got into the house, by the light.”
“But I only struck a match a second ago,” he protested.
“Excuse me,” she said coldly; “I saw a light quite five minutes ago.”
“Oh yes!” he apologised. “I remember. When I came up the cellar steps.”
“I dare say you think it’s very queer of me,” she continued.
“Not at all,” he said quickly.
“Yes you do,” she bitterly insisted. “But I want to know. Did you mean it when you said—you know, at supper—that there’s no virtue in believing?”
“Did I say there was no virtue in believing?” he stammeringly demanded.
“Of course you did!” she remonstrated. “Do you mean to say you can say a thing like that and then forget about it? If it’s true, it’s one of the most wonderful things that were ever said. And that’s why I wanted to know if you meant it or whether you were only saying it because it sounded clever. That’s what they’re always doing in that house, you know, being clever!” Her tone was invariably harsh.
“Yes,” he said simply, “I meant it. Why?”