"Do you know what this contains?" sounded a clear, hard voice, strangely unlike that which had just been speaking.
"I have no idea."
"But you knew that he had left?"
"Yes, I knew. I kept it from you till now, because I feared you were not well enough to bear the agitation."
"And who," cried the other fiercely, "gave you authority to detain letters addressed to me? What have you to do with my health? When did Lord Dymchurch leave?"
"Whilst we were at breakfast," Constance answered, with a great effort at self-command. "He saw nobody."
"Then you lied to me when you came up before?"
"I think, Lady Ogram," said Constance, standing rigid and with white face, "you might give me credit for good intentions. It was nothing to me whether you heard this news then or later; but I knew that you had passed a sleepless night, and that the doctor had been sent for."
"You knew—you knew!" cried the listener, with savage scorn. "Did you know why Lord Dymchurch had gone?"
"I took it for granted that—it had something to do with Miss Tomalin."