She straightened up slightly in the chair, yet spoke rather indifferently, her voice cold.
"No doubt I did," she said tersely. "Indeed I have already discovered, Captain West, that I made an even greater mistake when I first took you into my service. You have proven altogether too inquisitive. Now I will be plain with you. Whatever need I once supposed I had for your services ended with the explanation I received in that Arch Street cottage. I told you so very distinctly after our return home. You recall that interview, no doubt?"
He bowed, waiting for her to go on.
"You were then and there dismissed from my service. That should have been sufficient. I knew nothing of your silly feeling of personal interest in me; nor did I realize any occasion for discussing with you the reasons causing me to change my plans. You were my employee, and I discharged you; that was all. It is true Percival Coolidge took me to that cottage to have certain mysterious things explained, and they were explained to my complete satisfaction."
"By Hobart?"
"Yes."
"You knew the fellow before?"
She hesitated slightly, although there was no perceptible change in the answering voice.
"For several years; he was in my father's employ; the—the whole trouble originated in a joke, and—and was quite amusing, once I understood. Of course, after that, I had no further need for you. Why did you persist in annoying me?"
West hesitated an instant, his mind struggling with the situation. Was she honest, truthful, in this statement? Could he say anything which would change her viewpoint? She must have been deceived by these men, yet how could he expose them so she would comprehend? He was so little certain of the facts himself, that he had nothing but suspicion to offer.