“It will be when your questions tend to an attempt to say that she has any knowledge of this horrible affair.”
“Very well, I accept the conditions. You met her when and where?”
“I met her in a store two years ago.”
“How frequently have you seen her in the meantime?”
“At first very often, but latterly only once in a great while.”
“You ceased, then, to be as good friends as formerly?”
“No.”
“How do you explain not seeing her as much, if that be so?”
Barnes hesitated a minute before replying, and then he slowly said:
“While I do not see how my private affairs can in anywise be mixed up in the death of Mr. Field, nor see how telling the same to you is going to help elucidate the mystery, still I have seen so much of your astuteness to-day that I will throw aside all reserve in the matter and tell you the whole truth. My acquaintance with Miss Doane was of so agreeable a nature that I fell in love with her, although she was ignorant of the character of my visits until I openly declared them. She then promptly, but kindly, refused me, while at the same time assuring me that she valued me highly as a friend, and trusted that she might not lose my friendship through her refusal of my hand.”