Anne was silent.
"Lady Carfax," he said, "will you swear to me that you never received that letter?"
"No," she said.
"You will not?"
"I will not."
He made a sudden movement—such a movement as a man makes involuntarily at an unexpected dart of pain.
Anne raised her eyes very quietly. "Let us be quite honest," she said.
"No oath is ever necessary between friends."
"You expect me to believe you?" he said, and his voice was shaken by some emotion he scarcely tried to hide.
She smiled very faintly. "You do believe me," she said.
He turned sharply from her. "Let us go down," he said.