"You fool," answered his Grace gently. "You fool, do you think I have not always known?"
Richard leaned against the mantel-shelf.
"You never thought I was innocent? You knew that night? You guessed?"
The Duke sneered.
"Knowing both, could I suspect other than you?" he asked insultingly.
"Oh, my God!" cried Carstares suddenly. "Why could you not have said so before?"
The Duke's eyes opened wide.
"It has chafed you—eh? I knew it would. I've watched you." He chuckled beneath his breath. "And those fools never looked beneath the surface. One and all, they believed that John would cheat. John! They swallowed it tamely and never even guessed at the truth."
"You, at least, did not believe?"
"I? Hardly. Knowing you for a weak fool and him for a quixotic fool, I rather jumped to conclusions."