That," he added slowly,
"is the story which the whole world read, and which most of it
believes. Here, however, are a few corrections of my own, and a
suggestion or two for you, Aynesworth, and those of you who like to
consider yourselves truth seekers. First, then, Lady Ruth was a
self-invited guest at White Lodge. She had asked Wingrave to return
with her, and as they sat together in his room, she confessed that she
was worried, and asked for his advice. She was in some money trouble,
ingeniously explained, no doubt. Wingrave, with the utmost delicacy,
offered his assistance, which was of course accepted. It was exactly
what she was there for. She was in the act of taking the check, when
she saw her husband and Lumley. Her reputation was at stake. Her
subsequent course of action and evidence becomes obvious. The check
unexplained was ruin. She explained it!
"Of the struggle, and of the exact means by which Sir William received
his injuries, I know nothing. There is the evidence! It may or may not
be true. The most serious part of the case, so far as Lady Ruth was
concerned, lay in the facts as to her husband's removal from the White
Lodge. In an unconscious state he was driven almost twelve miles at a
walking pace. No stimulants were administered, and though they passed
two doctors' houses no stop was made. A doctor was not sent for until
half an hour after they reached home, and even then they seemed to
have chosen the one who lived furthest away.
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