"I should not do anything in a hurry," Gifford answered.
"But surely," Kelson remonstrated, "the sooner we take the line of putting ourselves in the right the better."
Again Gifford paused before replying.
"Can Miss Tredworth give no explanation, has she no idea as to how the stains came on her dress?"
"None whatever," was the emphatic answer.
"You are absolutely sure of that?"
Kelson jumped up from his chair. "Hugh, what are you driving at?" he cried, his eyes full of vague suspicion. "I—I don't understand the cool way you are taking this. There is something behind it. Tell me. I will know; I have a right."
Evidently the man was almost beside himself with the fear of something he could not comprehend. Gifford rose and laid a hand sympathetically on his shoulder. "I am sorry to seem so brutal, Harry," he said gently, "but this discovery does not surprise me."
Kelson recoiled as from a blow, staring at his friend with a horror-struck face. "Why, good heavens, what do you mean?" he gasped.
"Only," Gifford answered calmly, "that when you introduced me to Miss Tredworth at the dance I noticed the stains on the white flowers she wore."