Derek grinned suddenly. “They will say a lot to you about me, my dear, and most of it will be true. Yes, and worse things too⁠—things that I shall never tell you. I have been a gambler always⁠—and I have taken some long odds. I shan’t confess to you now or at any other time. The past is done with. There is one thing I do wish you to believe. I swear to you solemnly that I did not kill my wife.”

He said the words earnestly enough, yet there was somehow a theatrical touch about them. He met her troubled gaze and went on:

“I know. I lied the other day. It was my wife’s compartment I went into.”

“Ah,” said Katherine.