"I never saw it before; I didn't know it was there." Dolly gasped, for he was beginning to scent danger.
"The presumed woman introduced by Agstone was dressed in this," went on Lord Prelice mercilessly. "You hated Shepworth, you wished to get him into trouble, and so——" Prelice stopped. "I leave you to draw your own inferences," he ended.
Dolly trembled, as well he might, for the visitor had drawn up a very good case against him. "I tell you I never saw the dress before," he quavered. "And how did you find it?"
"That is neither here nor there," said Prelice, wishing to shield Constance from the mean wrath of the little man. "Later on the police can explain."
"The police—the police!" Dolly grew as white as a sheet.
Constance laid her hand on his shoulder. "Don't be afraid, Dolly; I do not believe that you killed that man Agstone."
Dolly brushed her hand away, with the snarl of a terrified cat. "Keep yourself to yourself," he snapped, showing his teeth. "You hate me, so you need not defend me."
"I don't love you," answered Constance bitterly. "I have small cause to, considering the way in which you tricked me. All the same, I do not wish to see you get into trouble over a crime which I truly believe you had not pluck enough to commit."
"You are quite right," retorted her husband shamelessly. "I never did have pluck enough to kill a fly, much less a human being. I should have stabbed your lover long ago if I had."
"Shepworth is not Mrs. Rover's lover," said Prelice, quietly.