Surely it"s very clear? You can"t want a more explicit confession of guilt.
LADY FREDERICK.
I tried to make it as explicit as possible.
LADY MERESTON.
Won"t you say something? I"m sure there must be some explanation.
LADY FREDERICK.
I don"t know how you got hold of this letter, Lady Mereston. I agree with you, it is compromising. But Kate and Peter are dead now, and there"s nothing to prevent me from telling the truth.
[PARADINE FOULDES _takes a step forward and watches her_.
LADY FREDERICK.
My sister-in-law was a meek and mild little person, as demure as you can imagine, and no one would have suspected her for a moment of kicking over the traces. Well, one morning she came to me in floods of tears and confessed that she and Roger Bellingham [_with a shrug_] had been foolish. Her husband suspected that something was wrong and had kicked up a row.
FOULDES.
[_Drily._] There are men who will make a scene on the smallest provocation.
LADY FREDERICK.
To shield herself she told the first lie that came into her head. She said to Peter that Roger Bellingham was my lover--and she threw herself on my mercy. She was a poor, weak little creature, and if there"d been a scandal she"d have gone to the dogs altogether. It had only been a momentary infatuation for Roger, and the scare had cured her. At the bottom of her heart she loved her husband still. I was desperately unhappy, and I didn"t care much what became of me. She promised to turn over a new leaf and all that sort of thing. I thought I"d better give her another chance of going straight. I did what she wanted. I wrote that letter taking all the blame on myself, and Kate lived happily with her husband till she died.
MERESTON.
It was just like you.
LADY MERESTON.
But Lord and Lady Peter are dead?
LADY FREDERICK.
Yes.
LADY MERESTON.
And Roger Bellingham?
LADY FREDERICK.
He"s dead too.
LADY MERESTON.
Then how can you prove your account of this affair?
LADY FREDERICK.
I can"t.
LADY MERESTON.
And does this convince you, Charlie?
MERESTON.
Of course.
LADY MERESTON.
[_Impatiently._] Good heavens, the boy"s out of his senses. Paradine, for Heaven"s sake say something.
FOULDES.
Well, much as it may displease you, my dear, I"m afraid I agree with Charlie.
LADY MERESTON.
You don"t mean to say you believe this c.o.c.k-and-bull story?
FOULDES.
I do.
LADY MERESTON.
Why?
FOULDES.
Well, you see, Lady Frederick"s a very clever woman. She would never have invented such an utterly improbable tale, which can"t possibly be proved. If she"d been guilty, she"d have had ready at least a dozen proofs of her innocence.
LADY MERESTON.
But that"s absurd.
FOULDES.
Besides, I"ve known Lady Frederick a long time, and she has at least a thousand faults.
LADY FREDERICK.
[_With flashing eyes._] Thanks.