"There is no 'but' about it," interrupted the dancer, imperiously, and Ralph found himself thinking what a beautiful creature she was. "My mother always taught me never to tell a lie. And if you think that I know anything of the crime, Mr. Shawe, I shall prove my sincerity and ignorance by refusing to marry Sir Joseph Branwin. Good-day," and she walked out of the room, in as stately a manner as she had entered.
"I wonder," murmured Ralph, leaving the house, "if she's a born liar, or if she is really and truly telling the truth?"
[CHAPTER XXI.]
THE MARRIAGE
It certainly was not an easy task to come to a conclusion about Miss Pearl. Ralph took her for a beautiful, amiable, stupid woman, narrowed by her early training into a perfect specimen of what a wife should be--that is, a wife to an ordinary British Philistine. But Sir Joseph was not a prim, conventional man after the style of a suburban clerk, but a clever individual who knew how to use his brains. He might certainly admire Miss Pearl for her calm maternal beauty, but Shawe was satisfied that he could not possibly tolerate such a milk-and-water character. Miss Pearl was more suitable to be the wife of a Sunday-school teacher than the second Lady Branwin.
And this consideration brought the barrister round to wonder if Miss Pearl had not been playing a very clever game with him. He had been with her for quite an hour, and all the time she had been so taken up with telling him about herself that he had not been able to cross-examine her. In a dexterous manner she had contrived to keep him at arm's length, and he left the quiet Bloomsbury house about as wise as when he entered it.
Considerably puzzled over the present aspect of affairs, the young man sought out Perry Toat, and described his visit to Miss Pearl. He also repeated what Audrey had overheard as passing between Badoura and Eddy Vail.
Miss Toat listened in silence, and her shrewd little eyes twinkled. "It's really a most puzzling case," she said at length. "Of course, this clue of the scent is a very slight one to go by. Sir Joseph is fond of this especial kind of cloth, and probably asked Miss Pearl to favour him by having a dress made of the same material. But Eddy Vail might also have a suit of the cloth, and he might be the person who lurked in the passage."
"I think he must be guilty myself," said Ralph, insistently, "for if he was innocent he certainly would not have altered the clock."
"Quite so. Let us consider the matter. Now, my theory--"