“This throws a new light on it all,” said Fessenden gravely. “And this Miss Burt—did she return Carleton’s regard?”
“I don’t know,” said Cicely, and her agitation seemed to increase, though she tried hard to conceal it. “Of course Miss Van Norman didn’t speak openly of this matter, but I knew her so well that I easily divined from her moods and her actions that she knew she had a rival in Mr. Carleton’s affections.”
“Then he cared more for her in time past?”
“Yes, until that girl came to live with his mother. She’s a designing little thing, and she just twisted Mr. Carleton round her finger.”
“Do you know her personally, Miss Dupuy?”
A look of intense hatred came over Cicely’s expressive face.
“No! I wouldn’t meet her for anything. But I have seen her, and I know perfectly well that Mr. Carleton cares for her more than he did for Miss Van Norman.”
“Yet he was about to marry Miss Van Norman.”
“Yes; because they were engaged before he saw the Burt girl. Then, you see, he didn’t think it honorable to refuse to marry her, and she——”
“He had asked her, then, to give him back his freedom?”