'What did she say?'

'She told me that it was a secret, but that I was to tell you what she
said, if I thought it best.'

'Are you going to tell me?'

It was impossible to guess whether he was controlling any emotion or
not; but if the men with whom he had done business where large sums
were involved had seen him now and had heard his voice, they would
have recognised the tone and the expression.

'She said, "he did it,"' Margaret answered slowly, after a moment's
thought.

'Was that all she said?'

'That was all. A moment later she was dead. Before she said it, she
told me it was a secret, and she made me promise solemnly never to
tell any one but you.'

'It's not much of a secret, is it?' As he spoke, Mr. Van Torp turned
his eyes from Margaret's at last and looked at the grey sea beyond the
ventilator.

'Such as it is, I have told it to you because she wished me to,'
answered Margaret. 'But I shall never tell any one else. It will be
all the easier to be silent, as I have not the least idea what she
meant.'