“I’m dreadfully, dreadfully shocked and sorry, Cecil. This isn’t the first time you’ve said what isn’t true, you know, and now we can none of us ever trust you again.”
Rose Aviolet shot a look of fury at the elder woman.
“Please don’t tell him that. Ces darling, Mummie trusts you. I know you want to tell the truth really, and you can if you only will. Now out with it, and it’ll be all over.”
“How can it be over, when he has lied? There is nothing more terrible than a liar, and Cecil has proved himself one over and over again. If he did tell the truth now, it would only be because he knows he’s been found out.”
At her indictment, Cecil at last burst into tears.
“I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it,” he sobbed abjectly.
Rose put her hand over his mouth.
“You’ve told him that you’ll never trust him again and that he’s a liar even if he does own up,” she said bitterly. “That’s enough.”
“How can you defend him?”
“I don’t defend him. Of course he took the box.”