"Miss Clyde!" said Paul, staring at his informant; "but what was she doing in the Winding¹ Lane at so late an hour?"  
"Watchin' Miss Lester, of course, sir!"
 
"Why? For what reason?"
 
Brent laughed in a coarse manner, and there was a leer on his face as he replied to this question. "Don't y' know, sir, Miss Clyde's sweet on Mr. Lovel, and she 'ated Miss Lester like pisin?"
 
"Are you sure?"
 
"Sure?" returned Brent, with contempt--"why, ain't I bin² ploughman on Clyde's Farm for years? an' ain't I 'eard arl the talk o' the maids? 'Tis well known theer as Miss Clyde 'ud give 'er ears to be Missus Lovel!"
 
"And you think she killed Miss Lester out of jealousy³?"
 
"I'm sure she did, sir. Wot wos she doin' in th' lane creepin' arter them? Why wasn't she 'ome at the Farm? Oh, no, sir; she did it, for I knows the kin⁴' of temper she 'as! Mad bulls is nothin' to it!"
 
"Then Dr. Lester is innocent!" said Paul, half to himself.
 
"Niver thowt he were guilty," returned Brent, drily.
 
"Then why didn't you come forward at the inquest and confess all this, so as to save an innocent man from arrest?"
 
Brent reared himself to a giant height, and he laid down his pipe on the table. "Whoy didn't I," he thundered--'"cause I wished t' be honourable⁶ for that there money! If I'd said I seed Miss Clyde, I'd have had to say why she wos theer, wouldn't I? and cud I 'ave said she were watchin' Mr. Lovel and the gal⁷ when the five pounds were given to me to 'old my tongue? It was either tell arl or shut up," concluded Brent, dropping back into his seat, "so I shut up."
 
Paul nodded. "It was the only thing you could do," he said, musingly⁸; "but I must see Miss Clyde and get the truth out of her."
 
"An' y' mus' see Mr. Lovel," said Brent, heavily. "I ain't goin' to let the doctor be strung oop. Let Mr. Lovel git away t' Americy, an' then I'll tell arl I've told you about Miss Clyde and Mr. Lovel, an' th' perlice will let t' doctor out o' gaol⁹."
 
"No doubt," said Mexton, rising. "And in the meantime, Brent, you had better hold your tongue until I give you leave to speak."
 
"I shan't speak till Mr. Lovel ses 'es I can," said Brent, doggedly¹⁰.
 
"I'll see Mr. Lovel about that, Brent. In the meantime, as I said before, hold your tongue. If Inspector¹¹ Drek knew what you have done you would get into trouble."
 
"Shan't, sir, if y' don't tell him!"
 
"I don't intend to tell him," rejoined Paul, coldly. "I'll thrash out this matter for myself. If Miss Clyde killed that poor girl, she must suffer for her crime."
 
"I 'ope they'll string 'er oop!" said Brent, vindictively¹². "I 'ate 'er; she turned me off wi'oot a character."
 
Paul shrugged¹³ his shoulders at this last speech, which betrayed the motive¹⁴ for Brent's accusation¹⁵, and went away from the inn. It was now growing late, and he had to return to his duties in Marborough. There was no time to ride out two miles and see Miss Clyde; nor, if there had been, would Paul have sought an interview so soon after the conversation with Brent. He wished for a quiet time to consider all that had been told to him; to marshal his facts and to draw deductions¹⁶ therefrom. The truth is, Mexton was becoming bewildered by the sudden shifting of the blame from one person to another. At first, on the face of the circumstantial evidence supplied by Eliza, it seemed that Dr. Lester was guilty; and even after the sifting¹⁸ of such evidence by coroner and jury, it had been found strong enough to imprison¹⁹ him pending²⁰ a more extended trial. Then, by the belief of Herne regarding the bribery--which was afterwards admitted by Brent--and by the declaration of Iris²¹, it appeared that Lovel had committed the crime. Now came the ploughman, who positively²² asserted that Miss Clyde had killed Milly. Which one of the three witnesses was to be believed? which of the three accused was to be deemed guilty? Paul could not say.
 
He quite admitted that Miss Clyde, in a moment of jealousy at seeing Lovel with her rival, might have given way to the strong temper which she was known to possess. But it was incredible that she had gone to the Winding Lane with a pistol to designedly murder the girl. The question was: Where had she obtained the weapon wherewith to commit the crime? No doubt she had seen Lovel follow Milly into the lane, and had come after him. That was clear enough; but it did not account for Miss Clyde's possession of a pistol, without which she could not have shot the girl. On the whole, Paul doubted the story of Brent, which was doubtless dictated²³ by a feeling of hatred²⁴ against the woman who had dismissed him from her employment. By the time he reached Marborough, the journalist had come to the conclusion that Miss Clyde would be able to refute the accusation; and he determined²⁵ to give her the chance of doing so next day at a personal interview. Paul believed that she would prove her own innocence²⁶, and might also offer from her own knowledge some solution of the mystery.
 
On arriving at his home Paul found that Iris had preceded him, and was seated in the tiny drawing-room with Mrs. Mexton. The widow--for Paul's father had long since departed this life--was a placid²⁷, motherly-looking woman, whose mission in life seemed to be the task of comforting the afflicted²⁸. In this mission she was now engaged with Iris, and from the more composed looks of the girl it would seem that she had succeeded.
 
"Well," said Iris, when he made his appearance, "did you find Brent?"
 
"Yes--and what is more, I made him speak out."
 
"Did he give you any useful information?"
 
"He did; so useful that I hope to prove the innocence of Dr. Lester, and secure the arrest of the real murderer."
 
"Lucas Lovel?"
 
"No. According to Brent, that gentleman is innocent."
 
"I told you so, Iris," interjected Mrs. Mexton mildly. "I am sure Mr. Lovel is too much a gentleman to commit so terrible a crime."
 
"I don't think good birth or good breeding have much to do with the prevention of crime," replied Iris disdainfully; "there is criminality amongst the upper classes, as in the lower, only they sin in a more refined manner. But this is beside the question. What I wish to know is: If Mr. Lovel is not guilty--which I beg leave to doubt--who is?"
 
"What would you say to Miss Clyde?"
 
"I should laugh."
 
"And I," said Mrs. Mexton energetically, "would be utterly²⁹ disinclined to believe that a Christian³⁰ gentlewoman would fall to such a depth of degradation³¹."
 
"Christian gentlewomen, like all others of their sex, are amenable³² to jealousy," declared Paul, grimly.
 
"Jealousy!" repeated Iris--"and Miss Clyde was jealous?"
 
"So Brent says. She lo............