"I have a question to ask you," I said. "It obliges me to refer again to
a painful subject. Did Rosanna Spearman show you the nightgown. Yes, or
No?"
She started to her feet; and walked close up to me of her own accord.
Her eyes looked me searchingly in the face, as if to read something
there which they had never read yet.
"Are you mad?" she asked.
I still restrained myself. I said quietly, "Rachel, will you answer my
question?"
She went on, without heeding me.
"Have you some object to gain which I don't understand? Some mean fear
about the future, in which I am concerned? They say your father's death
has made you a rich man. Have you come here to compensate me for the
loss of my Diamond? And have you heart enough left to feel ashamed of
your errand? Is THAT the secret of your pretence of innocence, and your
story about Rosanna Spearman? Is there a motive of shame at the bottom
of all the falsehood, this time?"
I stopped her there. I could control myself no longer.
"You have done me an infamous wrong!" I broke out hotly. "You suspect me
of stealing your Diamond. I have a right to know, and I WILL know, the
reason why!"
"Suspect you!" she exclaimed, her anger rising with mine.
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