"Yes."
"Put the question directly to him, I mean?"
"Yes."
"And what did he say?"
"That his own stick condemns him, and that he would plead guilty at his trial."
"He never told you directly or indirectly that he killed the man?"
For the space of one second only did Louisa hesitate. She had asked Luke the direct question: "Was it you who killed that man?" and he had replied: "It was I." She had asked it then, determined to know the truth, convinced that she would know the truth when he gave reply. And she did learn the truth then and there, not as Luke hoped that she would interpret it, but as it really was. He had never really lied to her, for she had never been deceived. Now, she did not wish to hide anything from Sir Thomas Ryder, the only man in the whole world who could help her to prove Luke's innocence in spite of himself: therefore, when her uncle reiterated his question somewhat sharply, she replied quite frankly, looking straight up at him:
"He told me directly that it was he who had killed the man."
"And even then you did not believe him?"
"I knew that he tried to lie."