some afternoon reception and looked so charming and so--and so,
as if she ought to be happier."

"Just so. Now, when was this? How long before her death?"

"Oh, a week or so. It was very soon after the wedding day."

"And did matters seem to improve after that? Did she appear any
better satisfied or more composed?"

"I think she endeavored to. But there was something on her mind,
something which she tried to laugh off; something that annoyed Mr.
Jeffrey and worried Miss Tuttle; something which caused a cloud in
the house, for all the dances and dinners and goings and comings.
I am sorry to speak of it, but it was so."

"Something that showed an unsettled mind?"

"Almost. The glitter in her eye was not natural; neither was the
way she looked at her sister and sometimes at her husband."

"Did she talk much about the catastrophe which attended her wedding?
Did her mind seem to run on that?"

"Incessantly at first; but afterward not so much. I think Mr.
Jeffrey frowned on that subject."

"Did he ever frown on her?"

"No, sir--not--not when they were alone or with no one by but me.
He seemed to love her then very much."

"What do you mean by that, Loretta; that he lost patience with her
when other people were present--Miss Tuttle, for instance?"

"Yes, sir. He used to change very much when--when--when Miss
Tuttle came into the room."

"Change toward his wife?"

"Yes, sir."

"How?"

"He grew more distant, much more distant; got up quite fretfully
from his seat, if he were sitting beside her, and took up some
book or paper."

"And Miss Tuttle?"

"She never seemed to notice but"

"But--?"

"She did not come in very often after this had happened once or
twice; I mean into the room upstairs where they used to sit."

"Loretta, I regret to put this question, but after your replies I
owe it to the jury, if not to the parties themselves, to make Miss
Tuttle's position in this household thoroughly understood. Do you
think she was a welcome visitor in this house?"

The girl pursed up her lips, glanced at the lady and gentleman
whose feelings she was supposed to pass comment on, and seemed to
lose heart. Then, as they failed to respond to her look of appeal,
she strove to get the better of her sense of shame and, with a
somewhat injured air, replied:

"I can only repeat what I once heard said about this by Mr.
Jeffrey himself. Miss Tuttle had just left the diningroom and Mrs.
Jeffrey was standi