“And with Sternroyd.”
“Then you can tell me something of her parentage, her social position, and why the police desired her arrest?”
“No; I cannot tell you that,” he answered firmly. “Why?”
“Because I refuse.”
“You know that I hold your liberty in my hand, and you fear to tell the truth because it would incense me?”
“I do not fear to tell the truth,” he retorted.
“Then why do you decline?”
“Because I respect the confidences she made to me, and in preserving silence I am but obeying the command contained in that letter.”
His reply nonplussed me. I remembered the puzzling, disjointed words I had read a hundred times before. They were: ”...desire that your friend, Stuart Ridgeway, should remain in ignorance of the fact.” Yes; he was correct. By refusing, he was obeying her injunctions.
“Will you tell me nothing regarding her?” I asked persuasively.