Her face clouded. "It was so perfectly ridiculous, Mr. Booth. The man is satisfied that he was wrong. The matter is ended."
"Pure blackmail, I'd call it. I hope it isn't ended so far as she is concerned. I'd have him in jail so quick his—"
"She's tender-hearted, and sensitive. No real harm has been done. She refuses to prosecute him."
"You can't mean it."
"If you knew her as I do, you would understand."
"But her lawyer, what had he to say about it? And Mr. Wrandall? I should have thought they—"
"I believe they quite approve of what she has done. Nothing will come of it."
He walked on in silence for a couple of rods. "I have a feeling they will never know who killed Challis Wrandall," he said. "It is a mystery that can't be solved by deduction or theory, and there is nothing else for them to work on, as I understand the case. The earth seems to have been generous enough to swallow her completely. She's safe unless she chooses to confess, and that isn't likely. To be perfectly frank with you, Miss Castleton, I rather hope they never get her. He was something of a beast, you know."
She was looking straight ahead. "You used the word generous, Mr. Booth. Do you mean that she deserves pity?"
"Without knowing all the circumstances, I would say yes. I've had the feeling that she was more sinned against than sinning."