“All right!” he said sheepishly.
When she had finished the case, she got up and stood opposite him on the other side of the hearth.
“What is your next move?” she asked.
“I don’t move,” he answered quietly, “until after the case is finished.”
“And in the meantime?”
“In the meantime,” he replied, smiling across at her, “you stay here with me in this God-forsaken hole.”
Chapter Fifteen.
Van Bleit’s trial occupied considerably less time than was anticipated. It came on early in the session, and was quickly disposed of. The evidence was contradictory and unsatisfactory. Van Bleit, who was put in the witness box by his counsel, gave the only clear and unreserved account of the night’s doings. His plea was that he killed Simmonds in self-defence. There had been ill-feeling between himself and Simmonds for some time. On the night in question he had gone to the bungalow in perfect good faith. There was nothing remarkable in his being armed. He had carried a revolver ever since he had roughed it in Rhodesia. At the bungalow he had met with a hostile reception. Simmonds had locked the door of the room and put the key in his pocket. He had then drawn a revolver from his coat pocket and had covered Van Bleit with it.