"It is my rightful property."
"And you wrote it out of your own head, with your own hand?"
"I wrote every word of it," was the low response.
"Would you mind telling me, please, just where and at what time you did so?" he asked.
Cordelia rose to her feet impatiently.
"I did not come here, Mr. Repellier, to go into a criminal's witness-box," she said tremulously, "and I cannot stay to answer questions that are neither courteous nor rational. I'm afraid that I really must be going."
She swept to the door.
"One moment, I beg of you, Miss Vaughan," cried Repellier after her. She turned and faced him.
"You are misunderstanding me entirely. I haven't the slightest wish to hurt or offend you in any way. I only want to clear up this mystery, so that my knowledge of the facts may be a protection to you yourself, should the occasion arise."
"A protection to me?"