"No," said Leo, "I don't want you to bind yourself to anything. Wait till this mystery is cleared up. At present, so far as I know, I am the son of a criminal. If that is true, I should refuse to marry Sybil."
Here Mrs Jeal burst out into a taunting laugh. Lord Kilspindie frowned upon her, and took Leo's disengaged hand. The vicar held the other. "You are a good man, Haverleigh," said his lordship, far from suspecting the truth. "I wish I had you for a son," and Mrs Jeal laughed again.
When quiet was restored, Raston went on with his story. "First," he said, "I must tell you how I recovered the cup. I went up and met Pratt. As I promised not to deliver him into the hands of the law, much as he deserved punishment, he spoke to me freely and I was with him three hours. I do not know if I was right in letting such a dangerous criminal escape," said the curate, looking round, "but if I had given information to the police I should never have heard the truth about Leo, nor should I have secured the cup."
"Then I am not his son?" cried Leo, eagerly.
"No. Pratt gave me his word for that. Who you are you shall hear presently." Here Raston gave a glance at Mrs Jeal, who was moving her hands restlessly and seemed to be ill at ease. "Meantime I must go on with the story of the cup. It seemed that Pratt knew the pawnbroker Penny, and having learnt from Mrs Jeal's story that he had the cup, he went to get it back and to learn who had pawned it."
"And who did?" asked the vicar, sharply.
Raston gave the answer he least expected. "Mrs Jeal pawned it," said he.
The woman sprang to her feet and found her tongue. "It is a lie!" she shouted, furious with rage; then she made a rush for the door. Lord Kilspindie put his hand on her shoulder and forced her back into the chair.
"I am beginning to suspect the truth," he said sternly. "Sit still or I will have you punished."
She scowled and relapsed into a dogged silence. Raston went on to tell how the cup had been stolen. "It seems that when Pearl Darry was ill," he said, "this woman watched by her bed. The poor, mad creature was delirious and raved about the cup. Mrs Jeal persuaded her that she would be eternally punished, what for Heaven only knows—"