“Bess,” he said to her at last.

She swayed slightly towards him, her eyes on his.

“Can you discover how Dan came by the brooch?”

She frowned, and her mouth hardened; it was not in her heart to seek anything from Dan.

“I will not ask anything from him,” she said.

“Why not, Bess?”

“Because I hate him, hate him night and day.”

Richard looked at her almost wistfully.

“Yet you may learn something of your past from him,” he said.

“Yes—”