"Of their story, yes," I interjected.
"But there are still certain things I do not quite understand," she continued, not heeding me.
"Yes?"
"For instance—why did they trouble to keep her prisoner?"
"Family affection?"
"Nonsense! There could be none. Besides the man dominated them; and I believe him to have been capable of any crime."
"Perhaps he meant the hundred thousand to be only the first payment. With her at hand, he might hope to get more indefinitely. Without her——"
"Well, without her?"
"Oh, the plot grows and grows, the more one thinks of it! I believe it grew under his hands in just the same way. I don't doubt that it would have come, at last, to Miss Holladay's death by some subtle means; to the substitution of her sister for her—after a year or two abroad, who could have detected it? And then—oh, then, she would have married Fajolle again, and they would have settled down to the enjoyment of her fortune. And he would have been a great man—oh, a very great man. He would have climbed and climbed."
My companion nodded.