Page:Alice Stuyvesant - The Vanity Box.djvu/121



examination by the coroner began exactly as she had reason to expect that it would begin. But by and by fell the blow she had been dreading since she had recognized Major Smedley.

It fell in the form of a question, following upon one which concerned her early acquaintance with Lady Hereward, then Miss Millicent Latham.

"Did Miss Latham introduce Captain Hereward to you?"

"No," said Terry. "But the first time I ever met him I happened to find out that he was a very distant cousin of my friend Miss Latham."

"Did you correspond with her about him?"

"I wrote that I had met a cousin of hers whom she hadn't seen since they were children."

"How long did your acquaintance with Captain Hereward last before he left India?"

"Only a few weeks."

"Is it true that Captain Hereward wished to marry you?"

Now Terry could guess very well what had been written on that bit of paper which the coroner had read and discussed with the chief constable and the