She looked at him in surprise. "Why do you say that?"
"Your mother----"
"Oh, never mind my mother," broke in the girl, petulantly. "I know she objects to our marriage, so----"
"On the contrary, she told me that she would not object if I could clear myself of complicity in this crime."
"George! Did she accuse you of----"
"Not in so many words," interrupted the lover, "but I saw very plainly what she meant. The fact that I slept in that house on the night Mrs. Jersey was murdered is to her mind a proof that I have something to do with the matter."
"But you can prove conclusively that you have not," insisted Dorothy.
"Certainly. Mr. Train, with whom I was stopping, can prove that I did not leave my room. The key of the sitting-room door was in his possession, and to get out I should have had to make use of him." George paused and thought for a moment. "But there is one thing----"
"What is it?" asked Dorothy, seeing that he hesitated.
"I don't know if I ought to tell you."