At this she sprang up, her hands outstretched appealingly; the fear
now plain in her face.
"No, no!" she cried. "He is not guilty! He did not do it!"
"My dear young lady," said Ashton-Kirk, soothingly, "control
yourself. Don't forget that before this thing is ended you will
probably need all the self-command you can summon." Then as she
resumed her seat, he added: "I did not say that he was guilty. I was
merely telling you of the formless thought that you had in mind when
you turned out the light."
She sat staring at him, the horror of it all still in her eyes. Then
she nodded her head slowly, and said in a husky voice.
"Yes; that is what I thought, and that is why I called you on the
telephone. I thought you would pity me and show me some way of
covering it all up. But after I had your promise to come, I was seized
with the fear that you might--that you might betray him. That is, I
suppose, the real reason why I tried to deceive you. In my terror I
myself thought Allan guilty. But, of course, now that I have had time
to calmly think it over, I know he was not--that he _couldn't_ be! No
one who knows him will believe he did it."
"What reason had you for thinking that he might be guilty?"
"His manner during the afternoon before the murder.
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