It looked queer
to a good many people, but the only explanation was, that the
Doctor had fallen very much in love with the widow--that he would
have probably married her--had he lived."
With an unpleasant recollection that this was almost exactly
Maruja's explanation of her mother's relations to Dr. West, Carroll
returned, impatiently, "If you mean that their private relations
may be made the subject of legal discussion, in the event of
litigation in regard to the property, that again is a matter for
Mrs. Saltonstall to decide--and not her friends. It is purely a
matter of taste."
"It may be a matter of discretion, Captain Carroll."
"Of discretion!" repeated Carroll, superciliously.
"Well," said Prince, leaving his desk and coming to the fire-place,
with his hands in his pockets, "what would you call it, if it could
be found that Dr. West, on leaving Mrs. Saltonstall's that night,
did not meet with an accident, was not thrown from his horse, but
was coolly and deliberately murdered!"
Captain Carroll's swift recollection of the discovery he himself
had made in the road, and its inconsistency with the accepted
theory of the accident, unmistakably showed itself in his face. It
was a moment before he recovered himself.
"But even if it can be proved to have been a murder and not an
accident, what has that to do with Mrs. Saltonstall or her claim to
the property?"
"Only that she was the one person directly benefited by his death.
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