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46 'Did she love him?' Trent enquired abruptly. Mr. Cupples did not reply at once. 'Had she any love left for him?' Trent amended.

Mr. Cupples played with his teaspoon. 'I am bound to say,' he answered slowly, 'that I think not. But you must not misunderstand the woman, Trent. No power on earth would have persuaded her to admit that to any one–even to herself, perhaps–so long as she considered herself bound to him. And I gather that, apart from this mysterious sulking of late, he had always been considerate and generous.'

'You were saying that she refused to have it out with him.'

'She did,' replied Mr. Cupples. 'And I knew by experience that it was quite useless to attempt to move a Domecq where the sense of dignity was involved. So I thought it over carefully, and next day I watched my opportunity and met Manderson as he passed by this hotel. I asked him to favour me with a few minutes' conversation, and he stepped inside the gate down there. We had held no communication of any kind since my niece's marriage, but he remembered me, of course. I put the matter to him at once and quite definitely. I told him