“Oh, Mary!”

“What, don't you see?”

“No, no; I don't want to think so. It might have been an accident. The poor dog meant no harm; it was his way of fawning, that was all.”

“The beast meant no harm, but the man did. He is worse than any beast that ever was born; he is a cruel, cunning, selfish devil; and if I had been a man he should never have got off alive.”

“But are you sure?”

“Quite. I was upstairs, and saw it all.”

This was not true; she had seen nothing till her mistress screamed.

“Then—anything is fair against such a villain.”

“Of course it is.”

“Let me think.”