My mind was full of Adelaide till confusion came--then darkness--and then a perfect blank." She had finished; she had done as she had been asked; she had told the story of that evening as she knew it, from the family dinner till her return home after midnight--and the mystery of Adelaide's death was as great as ever.

Did she realise this?
Had I wronged this lovely, tempestuous nature by suspicions which this story put to blush?
I was happy to think so--madly, unreasonably happy.

Whatever happened, whatever the future threatening Arthur or myself, it was rapture to be restored to right thinking as regards this captivating and youthful spirit, who had suffered and must suffer always--and all through me, who thought it a pleasant pastime to play with hearts, and awoke to find I was playing with souls, and those of the two noblest women I had ever known! The cutting in of some half dozen questions from Mr.Moffat, which I scarcely heard and which did not at all affect the status of the case as it now stood, served to cool down the emotional element, which had almost superseded the judicial, in more minds than those of the jury; and having thus prepared his witness for an examination at other and less careful hands, he testified his satisfaction at her replies, and turned her over to the prosecution, with the time-worn phrase: "Mr.District Attorney, the witness is yours." Mr.Fox at once arose; the moment was ripe for conquest.

He put his most vital question first: "In all this interview with your sister, did you remark any discoloration on her throat ?" The witness's lips opened; surprise spoke from her every feature.
"Discoloration ?" she repeated.

"I do not know what you mean." "Any marks darker than the rest of her skin on her throat or neck ?" "No.