XI
MOTIVES REVEALED
She let go his hand and, still leaning toward him, waited for him to speak. A confusion of misgivings assailed her—she regretted having confided in him. If his anger embraced Berne as well as Judge Wilton, she had done nothing but harm!
Seeing her dismay, he tried again to reassure her.
"But no matter!" he minimized his own sense of shock. "I'm sure I'll understand if you'll tell me more—your explanation."
Obviously, the only inference he could draw from her story as she had told it was that Webster had killed the woman and, found bending over her body, had sprung forward to silence the man who had discovered him. Nevertheless, it was equally evident that she was sincere in attributing to Webster a different motive for preventing the judge's outcry. Consideration of that persuaded Hastings that she could give him facts which would change the whole aspect of the crime.
Her hesitance now made him uneasy; he recognized the necessity of increasing her reliance upon him. If she told him only a part of what she knew, he would be scarcely in a better position than before.
"Naturally," he added, "you can throw light on the whole incident—light by which I must be guided, to a great degree."