"He was a man who might that night have had access to the key of the safe, unsuspected by the manager or even his wife, and a man for whom Mrs.Ireland was willing to tell a downright lie.

Are there many men for whom a woman of the better middle class, and an Englishwoman, would be ready to perjure herself?
Surely not! She might do it for her husband.

The public thought she had.

It never struck them that she might have done it for her son!" "Her son!" exclaimed Polly.
"Ah! she was a clever woman," he ejaculated enthusiastically, "one with courage and presence of mind, which I don't think I have ever seen equalled.

She runs downstairs before going to bed in order to see whether the last post has brought any letters.