Her face, too,
was streaked with grime, and at the best she could never have been
handsome, for she had the exact physical characteristics which
Holmes had divined, with, in addition, a long and obstinate chin.
What with her natural blindness, and what with the change from
dark to light, she stood as one dazed, blinking about her to see
where and who we were. And yet, in spite of all these disadvantages,
there was a certain nobility in the woman's bearing, a gallantry
in the defiant chin and in the upraised head, which compelled
something of respect and admiration. Stanley Hopkins had laid
his hand upon her arm and claimed her as his prisoner, but she
waved him aside gently, and yet with an overmastering dignity
which compelled obedience. The old man lay back in his chair,
with a twitching face, and stared at her with brooding eyes.
"Yes, sir, I am your prisoner," she said. "From where I stood
I could hear everything, and I know that you have learned the
truth. I confess it all. It was I who killed the young man.
But you are right, you who say it was an accident. I did not
even know that it was a knife which I held in my hand, for in my
despair I snatched anything from the table and struck at him to
make him let me go.
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