At length she had a conversation with Obed Chute about her draft. She told him that when she first went to Tenby her sister had persuaded her to withdraw all her money from her former bankers and deposit it with Messrs. Tilton and Browne. Hilda herself had gone to London to have it done. She told Obed that they were living in seclusion, that Hilda had charge of the finances, and drew all the checks. Of course Messrs. Tilton and Browne had been led to believe that she was the Ella Lorton who had deposited the money. In this way it was easy for her, after getting her sister out of the way, to obtain the money herself.
After Obed Chute heard this he remained silent for a long time.
"My poor child," said he at last, in tones full of pity, "you could not imagine once what motive this Hilda could have for betraying you. Here you have motive enough. It is a very coarse one; but yet men have been betraying one another for less than this since the world began. There was once a certain Judas who carried out a plan of betrayal for a far smaller figure. But tell me. Have you never associated Gualtier and Hilda in your thoughts as partners in this devilish plot?"
"I see now that they must have been," said Zillah. "I can believe nothing else."
"You have said that Gualtier was in attendance on you for years?"
"Yes."
"Did you ever notice any thing like friendship between these two?"
"She always seemed to hold herself so far above him that I do not see how they could have had any understanding."
"Did he seem to speak to her more than to you?"
"Not at all. I never noticed it. He accompanied her to London, though, when she went about the money."