"Have you those letters?"
"One of them I'll show you."
"Why not the other?"
"It would be wasting time. It merely relates to your adventure. She sailed the day after you dined with her."
"That accounts for the shutters. The police and the caretaker were bribed."
"I suspect they were."
"If I were a vain man, and you know I am not, I might ask you if she spoke well of me in this letter. Understand, I am not inquiring."
"But you put the question as adroitly as a woman. We are sure of vanity always. Yes, she spoke of you. She found you to be an agreeable gentleman. But," with gentle malice, "she did not say that she wished she had met you years ago, under more favorable circumstances, or that she liked your eyes, which are really fine ones."
He had to join in her laughter.
"Come, give me the death-stroke and have done with it. Tell me what you dare, and I'll be content with it."