"Companion! That is the first we have heard of that. Was the companion a man or a woman, might I ask?"
"It was a lady, sir. She was a tall woman dressed in black. They stood opposite me for five or six minutes talking very earnestly together. Then Mr. Delahay turned away from the woman and went into the house. The woman seemed to hesitate a few moments, then she followed, and I saw her go into the house after Mr. Delahay. But she will be able to tell you all about it herself."
"I don't understand you," the coroner said, with a puzzled frown. "How can the woman tell us all about it herself? You don't mean to say that she is in court?"
The witness slowly turned and pointed a dingy forefinger in the direction of Maria Delahay.
"That's the lady, sir," he said. "That's the lady that I saw with Mr. Delahay the night before last."
"But that is absolutely impossible," the coroner cried. "Don't you know that that lady is Mr. Delahay's wife?"
[CHAPTER X.]
ROPES OF SAND.
Something like a thrill of real excitement ran through the spectators. The remark was made so quietly and in such a natural tone, that nobody dreamt of questioning the word of the witness. Then it went home to all that Stevens was making against Mrs. Delahay what amounted to a serious accusation. All eyes were turned upon her. She glanced in the direction of the witness in the same, dull, steady way which had characterised her from the first.
"This is very remarkable," the coroner murmured. "Do you quite understand what you are saying?"