, I went. And I was there again to-day, at dinner-time, and
I saw your sister come out of the door.'

She was silent. In spite of her passionate exclamations, a suspicion
had whispered within her from the first, a voice to which she would
lend no ear. Now she was constrained to think. She remembered Thyrza's
lateness at dinner on Monday; she remembered that Thyrza had been from
home each morning this week. And if it were true that books had arrived
at the library, and that Gilbert knew nothing of it--Was _this_ the
explanation of Thyrza's illness, of her inexplicable agitations, of her
sleeplessness?

She could not raise her head. Ackroyd too kept silent. She asked at
length: 'Have you anything more to tell me?'

'Yes, I _have_ something more. It's another thing that I found out last
night, after leaving Bower. Say that you don't accuse me of conduct as
bad as Bower's!' he added, vehemently. 'I _must_ tell you everything,
and it makes me seem as if I told it for the sake of telling. Say you
believe in my honesty, at all events!'

'I don't accuse you of anything,' she replied, still under her breath.
'What is it you have to say?'

'I went to see Miss Nancarrow. I had no thought of repeating the story
to her--you must believe me or not, as you like, but I am telling you
the truth. I wanted to see if she had heard anything from the Bowers,
and I wanted to try and find out, if I could, whether Thyrza had told
her any secret. It wasn't out of a wish to pry into things I'd no
concern with, but because I felt afraid for Thyrza, and because I
wanted to be sure that there was sufficient reason for it before I came
to you to put you on your guard. I said to Totty: 'Have you any reason
to think that Thyrza cares for somebody else more than for Grail?' She
got angry at once, and said she knew all about it, that she'd no
patience with Thyrza, and that she wasn't going to have anything more
to do with the affair. I've told you plainly, Lydia, told you
everything. I hope I've done it for the best.'

She stood as if she heard nothing. Her arms hung down; her eyes were
fixed on the ground. She was thinking that now she understood Thyrza's
urgency in wishing to see Totty. Now she understood everything.

She moved, as if to go away. Ackroyd could find no word. All he had to
say was so much sheer cruelty, and to attempt comfort would be insult.
But Lydia faced him again.

'And you think the worst of my sister?'

Again her look w