"You--you forced him to accept pistols?"
"In a way, yes. Your father convinced him I was an expert swordsman, and consequently he chose derringers, believing they would be to his advantage. The truth is, I am not particularly skilled in the use of either."
She looked at me a moment as though she would read clear down into the depths of my soul; then she leaned over against the head of the couch, her face hidden in her arm.
"I--I will listen," she said falteringly, "to all you have to say."
CHAPTER XXIX
THE MYSTERY DEEPENS
It was a task I distinctly shrank from, but could not escape.