"Oh, they must not!" she cried in distress.

"Poor Thalassa! He must tell them the truth." "The question is--what is the truth ?" It flashed through his mind as he spoke that his interrogation was the echo of one put to him by his father before he left Cornwall.
"The truth is, that Thalassa and I left the house together that night before it happened.

Oh, cannot they believe that?
Cannot it be proved ?" "I could tell them when you left," he said in a low tone.
"You!" she cried, looking at him with a kind of fear.

"How do you know ?" "Because I saw you.

I was standing outside, close to the house." "Why were you there ?" she put in quickly.
He was slower in answering.