"I made him commit himself wholly to-day," continued Margaret, anxiously. "The first time he betrayed his ignorance of the contents of that letter which St. Udo Brand wrote me upon leaving the castle; the second time he was so puzzled by the fastening of the library glass door, that he could not open it. That door, Mr. Davenport, which Mrs. Brand's grandson used exclusively."
"And would you condemn a man upon such accidents of memory as these?"
"Had St. Udo Brand that cowardly glance, that crime-darkened visage, that crawling, scheming softness?" cried Margaret, with flashing eyes. "Ugh! he is a serpent drawing his slimy folds into our midst—he is a travesty on the dead hero of yonder battle-field."
"You did not always think so well of Captain Brand," retorted the lawyer, with another exchange of glances with Gay; "and I should think that seeing him once—and that under circumstances rather damaging to him—you would hardly be capable of judging of his heroism or other good qualities, in comparison with any one."
"I am not deceived," said Margaret; "and, if you will watch this man, you cannot be deceived either."
The executors remained eying each other with a dubious frown.
This charge was leaving a very disagreeable impression on their minds. The physician remarked the gleaming eyes beside him with a speculation as to the sanity of his ward.
The lawyer ruminated over her communication with a speculation as to her honesty.
"Be careful, Miss Walsingham, not to get yourself into trouble," said Mr. Davenport.
"It might prove very damaging to your character to defame the man who was to have shared with you Mrs. Brand's estates."