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 Luckily the scandal was hushed up: the phrase blazed out against the dark background of Kate's misery. That was doubtless what most people felt—the words represented the consensus of respectable opinion. The best way of repairing a fault was to hide it: to tear up the floor and bury the victim at night. Above all, no coroner and no autopsy!

She began to feel a strange interest in her distant cousin. &quot;And his wife—did she know what he had done?&quot;

Mr. Orme stared. His moral pointed, he had returned to the contemplation of his own affairs.

&quot;His wife? Oh, of course not. The secret has been most admirably kept; but her property was put in trust, so she's quite safe with him.&quot;

Her property! Kate wondered if her faith in her husband had also been put in trust, if her sensibilities had been protected