"Gracious, no!" I expostulated, with an embarrassed laugh. "But I should like to have you answer my question."
"It is hideous even to assume such a thing," she very soberly made answer; "but if such were actually the case, I—I—"
"Well?" I prompted curiously, when she paused and pressed a hand to her throat.
Of a sudden the lovely eyes were brimming with tears. She timidly laid a hand upon my arm.
"You don't think he 's guilty, do you?" she murmured distressfully. It wrung my heart.
"Don't—please don't," I said hastily. "Here is my honest opinion, Miss Cooper: whatever that young man has done to involve himself in this affair, I am sure that he is no deliberate, cold-blooded assassin; my judgment of his character could not be so far at fault.
"For the same reason I am strongly inclined to believe his story, preposterous as it appears standing alone. I don't mind admitting—to you, Miss Cooper—that I 'm looking beyond him for the guilty man."
She drew a long breath of relief and clasped her hands in her lap. But how little did either of us realize that we had disposed of one difficult situation only to turn round and find ourselves face to face with another. My candor, to which she had made such a powerful appeal, soon led to an impasse; one that neither of us was in the least prepared for.
"Of course," she said presently, in a low voice, "I would not utter a word or lift a finger to influence you from what you regard as your duty. If your assumption were true, why, I would be with Belle, doing all that lies within my humble power to comfort her."
She leaned toward me impulsively, her face all at once bright and animated.