To his surprise, Cissy blushed, and stammered, replying:
"I should not like to answer that question unless you have very good cause for asking it."
She was generously eager to shield the woman's past if she could consistently do so.
But he answered, gravely:
"This must be considered a secret yet, but my detective wrote me that Mr. Standish was carrying on a flirtation with this Miss Erroll. Can she have been in collusion with him to kidnap Geraldine?"
"Good Heaven!" cried Cissy, paling at the awful suspicion that presented itself. She saw that she must tell all she knew.
But at that moment Mrs. Fitzgerald showed signs of reviving, and Cissy whispered, hurriedly:
"I can tell you all about Miss Erroll and Standish. They were lovers long ago, but I do not know if they have met recently."
Then the lady opened her eyes, and the subject dropped.
But when Hawthorne was gone, the horror of his suggestion staid in Cissy's mind, and she admitted to herself that it might be plausible.