“Of course that argument appeals to you, and of course it does to me. But you must see how others, not appreciating all this, and even suspecting or surmising that your heart was not entirely with your intended bride⁠—you must see that some appearances, at least, are against you.”

“I do see; and I see it so plainly that even to me those appearances seem conclusive of my guilt.”

“Never mind what they seem to you, old man; they don’t seem so to me, and now I’m going to get to work. First, as I told you, you are going to be frank with me. What were you doing in the Van Norman house before you went into the library?”

Schuyler Carleton blushed. It was not the shame of a guilty man, but the embarrassment of one detected in some betrayal of sentiment.