Cadogan Place

The father of the boy, an only child, had died two years before, and in London with his mother, Owen was occupying for May and June a house good-naturedly lent them by Colonel Gareth, their uncle and brother-in-law.

His mother had laid her hand so engagingly on Fleta Vetch that in a very few days the girl knew it was possible they should suffer together in Cadogan Place almost as much as they had suffered together at Waterbath.

The kind soldier's house was also an ordeal, but the two women for the ensuing month had at least the relief of their confessions.

The great drawback of Mrs. Gareth's situation was that, thanks to the rare perfection of Poynton, she was condemned to wince wherever she turned.

Mrs. Gareth had told her she liked her because she had an extraordinary flair, but under the circumstances, a flair was a questionable boon.

In the dry spaces in which she had mainly moved, she could have borne a chronic catarrh.

She was constantly summoned to Cadogan Place, and before the end of the month was out, was kept to stay, to pay a visit, of which the end, it was agreed, should have nothing to do with the beginning.

She had a sense, partly exultant and partly alarmed, of having quickly become necessary to her imperious friend, who indeed gave a reason quite sufficient for it in telling her there was nobody else who understood.

O'Neill's testimony became an even bigger part of the story after Neptune Blood, Gertrude's older brother, testified that from his examination, it would be impossible to see what O'Neill claimed to have seen through the keyhole.

The jury were transported from the courtroom to the former Campbell House at Cadogan Place in order to inspect the door and keyhole for themselves.

The result was not good for Gertrude, as they decided that O'Neill's account was in fact definitely plausible.

That doesn't mean that they believed it.