“She was as bright as possible—at least until after the

ceremony.”


“And did you observe any change in her then?”


“Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had ever seen

that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident however, was too trivial

to relate and can have no possible bearing upon the case.”


“Pray let us have it, for all that.”


“Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards the

vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it fell over into the

pew. There was a moment’s delay, but the gentleman in the pew handed it

up to her again, and it did not appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I

spoke to her of the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on

our way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause.”


“Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of the

general public were present, then?”


“Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is

open.”


“This gentleman was not one of your wife’s friends?”


“No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a

common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But really I think that

we are wandering rather far from the point.”


“Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less cheerful frame

of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do on re-entering her

father’s house?”


“I saw her in conversation with her maid.”


“And who is her maid?”


“Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California with

her.”


“A confidential servant?”


“A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed her to

take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they look upon these things

in a different way.”


“How long did she speak to this Alice?”


“Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of.”


“You did not overhear what they said?”