“Why, then——” he stammered, “then, all was confusion. I started toward Mr. Stannard, it—it seemed my duty. And Mrs. Faulkner, she came toward him——”
“And the two ladies behind him?”
“They came toward him, too, and Mrs. Stannard took hold of his hand——”
“Well?”
“Well, sir, I couldn’t help it, sir—I blurted out, ‘Who did this?’ And Mr. Stannard—he said——”
“Said! Spoke?”
Attention was concentrated on the footman, and it is doubtful if any one save Roberts noticed Barry Stannard’s face. It was drawn in an agonised protest at the forthcoming revelation. But Blake, accustomed to obeying orders implicitly, continued to tell his story.
“Yes, sir, he spoke—sort of whispered, in a gasping way——”
“And what did he say?”
“He said, ‘Natalie, not Joyce.’”