Miss Silver looked at him gravely and said,
“I hope it may not be necessary to speak of it. But since you have told me so much, will you tell me who was responsible for Mabel Robbins’s disgrace?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do the Robbinses know?”
He gave her the same answer—“I don’t know.”
“Major Pilgrim, suspicion is not knowledge. Have you, or have they, no suspicion in the matter? It is not pleasant to have to ask you such a question, but I must do so. Had the Robbinses any reason to suspect a member of your family, or did they suspect anyone without perhaps having a reason at all? I do not suggest that there was a reason, but I must know whether such a suspicion existed.”
He turned a horrified face to her.
“What are you driving at? If you think—”
She put up a hand.
“Pray, Major Pilgrim—
