"Mrs. Crosbie has told me nothing," said Rebb coldly. "I came down here because I heard that Bellaria had been up to see me. Also I had a line from Geary saying that something was wrong. I came down at once, and was informed that you had been spying out my private affairs."
"Don't call hard names, Major," said Gerald coolly. "I admit that I was wrong to speak to Mrs. Crosbie, seeing that she is engaged to you. But I am putting that right by coming here for an explanation, and I absolve Mrs. Crosbie from her promise. But I was not wrong in obeying the invitation of the sealed message. Any young man in my position would have done the same."
"Ah, the cylinder!" cried Rebb angrily, "Bellaria told me of that, as Mavis confessed to her what she had done. Who would have thought that the girl would have communicated with the world in that way?"
"Why should she not communicate with the world?" asked Gerald sharply.
Rebb saw that in his hurry he had made a mistake, and tried to get out of it. "Why? Because she is crazy!"
"And for that reason she has not been taught to read or write?"
"Exactly! The doctor said that if she were educated, or if her brain was subjected to any strain, her homicidal mania would be intensified. Out of sheer pity for the unfortunate girl, I have had her kept in ignorance."
"I see!" said Haskins, thinking that the excuse was extremely skilful. "Then Mr. Arnold taught her nothing?"
Rebb started; the cigar fell from his fingers, and he turned pale. The mention of the name evidently worried him not a little. "What do you know of Mr. Arnold?" he demanded.
"Only that he is, or was, Mavis' tutor in some sort of odd way. And that reminds me: Mrs. Jennings of the Prince's Head gave me a message for you, Major. Mr. Arnold, she says, has returned from Australia, and is in the neighborhood."