“Had Mr. Crawford returned then?”

“Yes, he came in perhaps an hour earlier.  We heard him come in at the front door, and go at once to his office.”

“You did not see him, or speak to him?”

“We did not.  He had a caller during the evening.  It was Mr. Porter, I have since learned.”

“Did Miss Lloyd express no interest as to whether he had changed his will or not?”

“Miss Lloyd didn’t mention the will, or her engagement, to me at all.  We talked entirely of other matters.”

“Was Miss Lloyd in her usual mood or spirits?”

“She seemed a little quiet, but not at all what you might call worried.”

“Was not this strange when she was fully expecting to be deprived of her entire fortune?”

“It was not strange for Miss Lloyd.  She rarely talks of her own affairs.  We spent an evening similar in all respects to our usual evening when we do not have guests.”

“And you both went upstairs at ten.  Was that unusually early for you?”

“Well, unless we have guests, we often go at ten or half-past ten.”

“And did you see Miss Lloyd again that night?”

“Yes; about half an hour later, I went to her room for a book I wanted.”

“Miss Lloyd had not retired?”

“No; she asked me to sit down for awhile and chat.”

“Did you do so?”

“Only for a few moments.  I was interested in the book I had come for, and I wanted to take it away to my own room to read.”

“And Miss Lloyd, then, did not seem dispirited or in any way in an unusual mood?”

“Not that I noticed.  I wasn’t quizzing her or looking into her eyes to see what her thoughts were, for it didn’t occur to me to do so.  I knew her uncle had dealt her a severe blow, but as she didn’t open the subject, of course I couldn’t discuss it with her.  But I did think perhaps she wanted to be by herself to consider the matter, and that was one reason why I didn’t stay and chat as she had asked me to.”

“Perhaps she really wanted to discuss the matter with you.”

“Perhaps she did; but in that case she should have said so.  Florence knows well enough that I am always ready to discuss or sympathize with her in any matter, but I never obtrude my opinions.  So as she said nothing to lead me to think she wanted to talk to me especially, I said good-night to her.”

VIII

FURTHER INQUIRY

“Did you happen to notice, Mrs. Pierce, whether Miss Lloyd was wearing a yellow rose when you saw her in her room?”

Mrs. Pierce hesitated.  She looked decidedly embarrassed, and seemed disinclined to answer.  But she might have known that to hesitate and show embarrassment was almost equivalent to an affirmative answer to the coroner’s question.  At last she replied

“I don’t know; I didn’t notice.”