"Mrs. Mellop saw him. He was on the hither side of the lane when I came to ask if my mother intended to remain for the night."
"Could Mrs. Mellop have been mistaken?"
"I don't think so, unfortunately," said Audrey, with a mournful look. "She knew him so well, and also she saw him in his tweed suit early in the evening when she came to take me to the theatre."
"I thought you told me that he was not at dinner, and went out very early?"
"So he did," said the girl, quickly; "but Mrs. Mellop came early also, and she passed him in the hall when he was going out. He did not stay to dinner. It was six o'clock when he went out--about the time Mrs. Mellop arrived. She mentioned the fact to me."
"And when did she say that she saw Sir Joseph in the lane?"
"To-day. That was one reason why I wished to see you. Mrs. Mellop has been trying hard to get my father to marry her. Yesterday she learnt from his own lips that he intended to marry Rosy Pearl, and lost her temper. My father asked her to leave, and she returned to her own home this afternoon. At our last interview she hinted that she believed my father had something to do with the death of my mother, and stated that she had seen him in the lane."
"Has she any other grounds upon which to base such a statement?"
"I don't think so. And I don't believe she believes what she says. It is simply the petty spite of a woman who has been disappointed. She can do no harm to my father in any way."
"Singly, I don't think she can," assented the barrister, thoughtfully; "but if Parizade's evidence became public property there would be trouble if it were taken in conjunction with what Mrs. Mellop saw."