"He was."
"An accepted one, I take it?"
"Y-e-e-s."
"And you know nothing now of his whereabouts? That is strange."
"It is strange, but no less true than strange. I have never seen or heard of Mr. Parmalee since the afternoon preceding that fatal night."
"How did you see him then?"
"He had been up to London for a couple of days on business connected with my lady; he had returned that afternoon with another person; he sent for me to inform my lady. I met and spoke to him on the street, just beyond the Blue Bell Inn."
"What had he to say to you?"
"Very little. He told me to tell my lady to meet him precisely at midnight, on the stone terrace. Before midnight the murder was done. What became of him, why he did not keep his appointment, I do not know. He left the inn very late, paid his score, and has never been seen or heard of since.
"Had he any interest in Lady Kingsland's death?"