I am afraid that for the moment I lost my self-possession. I had gone through so much during the last few hours, and this woman spoke with such confidence-so quietly, and yet with such absolute conviction-that I felt the barriers which I had built about myself crumbling away. I answered her lamely, and without conviction.
"My secret! I do not know what you mean. I have no secret!"
The black feathers fluttered backwards and forwards once more. She regarded me still with the same quiet smile.
"You love my niece, Mr. Greatson," she said.
"Madame," I answered, "you are jesting!"
"Indeed I am not," she declared. "I have made a statement which is perfectly true."
"I deny it!" I exclaimed hoarsely.
"You can deny it as much as you like, if you think it worth while to perjure yourself," she
