"No doubt, Miss Clyde; but you chose a bad time for such interference."
"I deny that," said the lady tranquilly. "Milly always denied to me that she met with Mr. Lovel; and he lied in the same way. My only chance of reproving the pair properly was to catch them together. Therefore I told John--my groom, you know--to drive on to the house of Dr. Lester, whither Mrs. Drass had gone to consult him; and I went in search of those two young fools."
"Did you find them?" asked Paul, rather foolishly it must be confessed.
"What a question, after what Brent told you!" retorted Miss Clyde. "Yes, I found them--but not at once. Lucas gave me the slip, and I searched for him in the wrong direction--down by the river, where I thought they might be wandering under the willows. They were not there, however, though I wasted some time in looking for them. At length it struck me that they might be in the Winding Lane; and when I got there I saw them sure enough. But I must confess," said Miss Clyde with much disgust, "that I wondered they should choose a place haunted by all the rustic lovers of the neighbourhood."
"There were no rustic lovers on that night."
"No; I believe they had all gone to some revival meeting at the Methodist Chapel. It was half-past eight when I got to the lane, and I saw only Brent coming down towards the village."
"Yes; to meet Jane Bilway in St. Dunstan's Square, and take her to the Methodist Chapel."
"Hm! and he met me apparently following Lucas and Milly," said Miss Clyde; "wherewith he accuses me of the murder. I'll be even with him for that--the brute! As a matter of fact, I did not see the two until I passed Brent; then I espied them walking arm-in-arm towards the stile which leads on to the common."
"Did you speak to them then?"
"No," confessed Miss Clyde frankly, "for to tell you the truth, I did not like the part I was playing. It was too like that of a spy. I stopped at the other end of the lane--near the town--and waited till they should come back, when I intended to meet them as if by accident. But I never saw them again that night. Poor Milly!" sighed Miss Clyde, "I little thought I had looked on her pretty face for the last time."