“Have you ever touched the pistol since?”
“No, no.”
“Has any one else, to your knowledge, touched it since?”
“No.”
“What is all this to lead to?” asked Clifford, impatiently.
“Well, I can’t tell you yet, sir. But the colonel says—and the young lady and Miss Bostal all say the same—that he put the pistol back on its nail, loaded, a week ago; and when I took it down from its nail to-night, it had been discharged. That’s all at present, sir.”
For one minute Hemming waited, expecting to have something said to him by Clifford King or Nell. As they remained silent, he took his leave, with more apologies for his intrusion.
The lovers looked at each other.
“Nell,” asked Clifford in a whisper, when they had been alone and silent for some moments, “is it true that you fired it off?”
“Quite true. Now do you doubt me, too?”