"When did you see it last?
"Oh, not for many years; it has been lost for a long time."
Was she trying to shelter herself under the cloak of a lie? Ronald was determined to know the worst. He sprang forward and caught her wrist, she recoiled with a cry of alarm.
"Now, tell me the truth." panted Ronald, his eyes blazing fiercely; "tell me the truth, I will not betray you."
"What do you mean?"
"Did you kill him?"
"Kill him--whom?"
"Leopold Verschoyle."
"Are you mad?"
She flung away his hand, and drawing herself up to her full height, looked like an angry goddess at the man who thus insulted her. But Ronald was too excited to heed her, and his words came pouring out in one torrent.