"You don't know," he asked, "who took that stuff from Howells; who hid it in your bureau?"
The trembling of her slender body became more pronounced. She spoke through chattering teeth:
"Bobby! Why do you ask such things? You believe I am guilty as you thought I was the woman in black. You think now, because those things were in my bureau—"
"Stop, Katherine! You won't answer me?"
"No," she said, backing away from him. "But you are going to answer me. We have come to that point already. Just an hour or two of trust, and then this! It's the Cedars forcing us apart as it did when we had our quarrel. Only this time it is definite. Do you think I'm guilty of these atrocious crimes, or don't you? Everything for us depends on your answer, and I'll know whether you are telling me the truth."
"Then," he said, "why should I answer?"
And he took her in his arms and held her close.
She didn't cry, but for a moment she ceased trembling, and her teeth no longer chattered.
"My dear," he said, "even if you had hidden that evidence I'd have known it was to protect me."
Then she cried a little, and for a moment, even in the unmerciful grasp of their trouble, they were nearly happy. The footsteps of the others in the corridor recalled them. Katherine leaned against the table, drying her eyes. Graham, Robinson, and Rawlins walked into the hall.