"Certainly. But you had better stop in your place for a time till the professor gets his money. I suppose you get on well with Mrs. Fane?"
"We are like sisters," said the fair Emily; "she entrusts me with all her secrets."
"Has she secrets?" asked Jasher quickly.
Miss Doon coloured, tossed her head, and bit her lip. She saw that she had said too much. "I am true to my mistress, sir," said she loftily, "and what she asked me to do, I did, without betraying her."
Jasher was puzzled. He thought the girl was a fool to talk thus, and wondered what Mrs. Fane could have asked her to do. However, it was not a propitious moment to get the truth out of the maid as she was now more or less on her guard, so he deftly changed the conversation. "I suppose you find Ajax Villa unpleasant after the murder?" he suggested.
Miss Doon closed her eyes. "Don't speak of it. My nerves are shattered. It's awful. And to think no one ever knew who killed the poor soul."
"I suppose you don't?"
"Certainly not," replied Miss Doon violently, "I was at the seaside with the other servants. I know nothing."
"Are the other servants pleasant?" asked Jasher, baffled again.
Emily shrugged her ample shoulders. "Oh yes," she said; "Gander, the cook, is the most amusing." Here she began to laugh. "We had such a joke the other day," she added. "I intended to tell the professor."