"I am afraid it was rather cruel. She'd annoyed me lately, and I put up some decorations, and announced the news in a dramatic way ... to mock her." He broke off, staring at the remains of the decorations on the floor. "But I tore them down. I shall never decorate again...."
The inspector watched him closely. He seemed to be on the verge of sleep.
"Then Mrs. Astley-Rolfe had reason to be jealous of Miss Manderson?" the inspector demanded briskly.
"I suppose ... she had."
"Good reason?"
"Possibly."
"Had you given her definite cause to believe that you intended to ask her to marry you?"
"Perhaps so. At any rate ... I had not given her definite cause to believe that I didn't."
His voice sank to a whisper. He leant back limply in his chair.
"There is only one more question I need trouble you with at present," the inspector said. "Who was the last person to be with Miss Manderson before the crime was discovered?"