Ryder. You know best, madam. I would gladly serve you, but I cannot guess what you are driving at.
The prisoner was taken aback by this impudent reply. She hesitated to force her servant to expose a husband, whom she believed to be living: and her hesitation looked like discomfiture; and Ryder was victorious in that encounter.
By this time they were both thoroughly embittered, and it was war to the knife.
Prisoner. You listened to our unhappy quarrel that night?
Ryder. Quarrel! madam, 'twas all on one side.
Prisoner. How did you understand what I said to him about the constables?
Ryder. Constables! I never heard you say the word.
Prisoner. Oh!
Ryder. Neither when you threatened him with your knife to me, nor when you threatened him to his face.
Prisoner. Take care: you forget that Jane Bannister heard me. Was her ear nearer the keyhole than yours?