"I hoped that Miss Thornton would come downstairs again, and I could then get an opportunity to speak to her."
"Would it not have been better and more straight-forward to have stepped into the library and informed Colonel Thornton of your presence in his house?" asked the coroner, dryly.
Lane flushed at his tone. "Possibly it would,"--haughtily,--"but I was acting on impulse; I was extremely alarmed by Miss Carew's condition and could think of nothing else."
"What caused Miss Carew's indisposition?" inquired the coroner.
"She is not strong, and overtaxed her strength yesterday."
The coroner did not press the point, to Lane's relief. "Did anyone see you in the dining room last night?"
"I think not; the room was not lighted, and the table had been already cleared, so no servant entered the room."
"No. I had not been waiting long before I saw Colonel Thornton come down the stairs with a man whom I judged to be a physician. As they passed the dining room door I heard the doctor tell Colonel Thornton that Miss Carew had regained consciousness, and would be all right after a night's rest. A few minutes after that I left the house."
"I have dined frequently with Colonel Thornton and know the house fairly well; so, as I had promised to keep my visit to Miss Carew a secret, I opened the long French window which gives on the south veranda, ran down the steps, and walked down the garden path, jumped the fence between this property and the next, and walked out of their gate into the street."
Brett said something under his breath that was not complimentary to his detective force. "May I ask you why you thought such precautions necessary?" he inquired.
"Because I was perfectly aware that I had been followed over here," retorted Lane calmly. "And, as I considered it nobody's business but my own if I chose to call on Miss Carew, I decided to avoid them."
"And what did you and Annette, Miss Thornton's French maid, discuss before you left here?" Brett rose to his feet and confronted Lane squarely as he put the question.
"I did not speak to anyone except Miss Carew and Miss Thornton while in this house,"--steadily.
"No? Then perhaps you only saw the maid, Annette, when she was _asleep_?"--with emphasis.