"Can anything be worse?"
"Yes, for this last charge against you is not true."
"Go on."
"You placed yourself in Darcy's power. A clever woman, a really clever woman, my dear Miss Fitzgerald, would not have done that. It would be easy for him to manufacture circumstantial evidence, to back any lie he might choose to exploit, to your discredit. Say, for instance, that you were the prime mover in this plot, and that you went into it for a financial consideration, for three thousand pounds."
"But Bob never would——"
"Wouldn't he, when he was thirsting for revenge, believing that your careless threat against Lieutenant Kingsland had ruined his hopes."
"He did, and that is why I'm here this morning in Mr. Stanley's place—commissioned to return to you your letters," and he handed her the packet.
"It's not true!" she cried. "Before Heaven, Mr. Kent-Lauriston, it is not true!"
"I know it's not true, for Darcy's confessed to me."