? ? ? ? "But why at such an hour?"
? ? ? ? "Because I had only just learned that he was going to London next day and might be away for months. There were reasons why I could not get there earlier."
? ? ? ? "But why a rendezvous in the garden instead of a visit to the house?"
? ? ? ? "Do you think a woman could go alone at that hour to a bachelor's house?"
? ? ? ? "Well, what happened when you did get there?"
? ? ? ? "I never went."
? ? ? ? "Mrs. Lyons!"
? ? ? ? "No, I swear it to you on all I hold sacred. I never went. Something intervened to prevent my going."
? ? ? ? "What was that?"
? ? ? ? "That is a private matter. I cannot tell it."
? ? ? ? "You acknowledge then that you made an appointment with Sir Charles at the very hour and place at which he met his death, but you deny that you kept the appointment."
? ? ? ? "That is the truth."
? ? ? ? Again and again I cross-questioned her, but I could never get past that point.
? ? ? ? "Mrs. Lyons," said I as I rose from this long and inconclusive interview, "you are taking a very great responsibility and putting yourself in a very false position by not making an absolutely clean breast of all that you know.
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