He opened the door himself.
"I know," he said, abruptly, before I could speak, "why you have come. Mrs. Llewellyn was with you this morning; I saw her rustling up towards the sacristy. Don't let charity bring you any farther."
I signed to him to let me come in.
"We can't talk on the doorstep," I said. "Of course, it is all a mistake."
He let me come to the study; then, as he closed the door behind me, he said:—
"There is no mistake. I was there—in her room that night. She saw me."
"You were not there to take the diamonds," I persisted.
"I was not there to steal the diamonds; I will own so much."
"In that case, who did steal them, if stolen they were? No pains should have been spared at the time to discover the actual thief. Even now it might not be too late, if you would only account for your presence in the room."
"The actual thief——" He began restlessly to pace the floor. "What if I were to say that I took the diamonds—with my own hands?"