Well, this made me sit down and gasp. I
am, I think, one of the most unsuspicious men
upon earth, and through a certain easy-going
indolence of disposition I never even think of
the possibility of those with whom I am
brought in contact trying to deceive me. It
does not occur to me. But let me once get
on that line of thought — let me have proof



THE STARK MUNRO LETTERS. 269

that there is reason for suspicion — and then all
faith slips completely away from me. Now I
could see an explanation for much which had
puzzled me at Bradfield. Those sudden fits of
ill temper, the occasional ill-concealedanimosity
of CuUingworth — did they not mark the arrival
of each of my mother's letters ? I was con-
vinced that they did. He had read them then
— read them from the pockets of the little
house coat which I used to leave carelessly in
the hall when I put on my professional one to
go out. I could remember, for example, how
at the end of his illness his manner had
suddenly changed on the very day when that
final letter of my mother's had arrived. Yes,
it was certain that he had read them from the
beginning.
But a blacker depth of treachery lay beyond.
