"A friend of mine called Miss Carr gave it to me. She got it from her father, though I don't know how he got it, I'm sure. Major Ruck--you know the man, dear?--wanted Maud--that is Miss Carr--to give it up, and would have killed her for it. He's just the sort of bully who would kill a woman to get money, and I don't mind saying it, although he was my friend. So Maud, to spite him, gave it to me, and----"
"Wait one moment, mother. Were you not going to elope with Major----"
Lady Watson interrupted in her turn, and uttered an embarrassed scream. "Yes, I was, my dear. Your father was a bear--there's no good saying anything else. He was a bear! I couldn't stand his Puritan airs any longer, and on the very night he was murdered I intended to elope with him, to pay your father out. But Alpenny met me----"
"At the head of the stairs?"
"Who told you that?"
"Mrs. Snow," said Beatrice promptly.
"Julia Duncan? Ah, she always was a false-hearted cat. Why, the very last time I saw her, and that was when I went down to get Alpenny's money, she promised to hold her tongue."
"I forced her to speak."
"And you have forced me, you clever girl. I promised Durban never to reveal who I really was but I did so, through natural affections; and now you know. I'm sure I don't care," added Lady Watson with a reckless air. "Durban can do his worst."
"What can he do?"