"Are all the provisions of her will practicable?"
"Perfectly, I think. She took great trouble to make them so. By the bye, from whom did you get your information?"
It was asked in a disinterested voice, the speaker's look resting for a moment on Lashmar with unembarrassed directness.
"Mrs. Toplady told me about the will."
Dyce paused for a moment, then continued, with an obvious effort indeed, but in an even voice.
"She came to see me, after the funeral. Mrs. Toplady has a persevering curiosity; she wanted to know what had happened, and, I have no doubt, had recourse to me after finding that you were not disposed to talk as freely as she wished. I was able to enlighten her on one point."
"May I ask what point?"
"She began by telling me that Miss Tomalin was at her house. She had heard Miss Tomalin's story, with the result that she supposed me in honour bound to marry that young lady. I explained that this was by no means the case."
"How did you explain it?" asked Constance, still in her disinterested tone.
"By telling the simple truth, that Miss Tomalin had herself cancelled the engagement existing between us."