“You are still unmarried, I believe, Mr. Stevens?”
“I am unmarried, sir,” said the witness, sitting up a little straighter in the chair.
“Did you know Miss Katherine Alexander before she was married to James Hildebrand?”
“I did,” said Stevens, his face set.
Sampson ventured a swift look at Alexandra Hildebrand. She was looking down at the table, her face half averted. It struck him as exceedingly brutal of Mr. O'Brien to drag this poor girl's dead mother into the public light of—But the lawyer asked another question.
“You and young Mr. Hildebrand remained friends for a number of years after his marriage, did you not?”
“I always thought so.”
“You never bore him any ill will?”
“What do you mean?”
“I withdraw the question. When was it that you and James Hildebrand, Jr., ceased to be friends?”