"I was Bernard's, you mean."
"Does that intimate that you have quarrelled with Bernard?"
"You forget," said the solicitor, looking at him sharply. "Bernard is supposed to be dead."
"I don't think you ever believed that," said Beryl, smiling.
"That has nothing to do with you."
"Oh yes, it has. See here, Durham, I wrote to Miss Malleson some time ago, stating that I had seen Bernard in London."
"So I understand," said Durham, calmly. "Why did you not stop him?"
"I was not quick enough. He walked on the other side of the street, and before I could cross over, which was difficult on account of the traffic, Bernard disappeared. Then I was not quite sure if he really was alive. Now I am."
"Indeed?" said Durham, with a qualm, for he fancied Julius might have learned of Gore's whereabouts.
"Yes! That young Moon wrote a letter to me saying that Bernard had come to the Bower, starving and in rags."