!!! I WILL MARK BRAINLIEST !!!In “The Adventure of the Speckled Band,” Helen Stoner is a wealthy heiress who lives with her stepfather. She consults Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson when a series of strange events seem to threaten her life. Read this excerpt from the story.

When Holmes asks if she has told him everything, she says, “Yes.” He replies,


“…You have not. You are screening your stepfather.”


“Why, what do you mean?”


For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor’s knee. Five little livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed upon the white wrist.


“You have been cruelly used,” said Holmes.


The lady colored deeply and covered over her injured wrist. “He is a hard man,” she said, “and perhaps he hardly knows his own strength.”

What do these lines of dialogue contribute to the story?

A.
They reveal Helen Stoner’s true motive for consulting Holmes and Watson.
B.
They demonstrate Helen Stoner’s foolishness in trying toconceal facts from Holmes.
C.
They expose Helen Stoner’s dishonest nature and suggest that she has been lying to Holmes.
D.
They reveal an important aspect of Helen Stoner’s personal life that she was reluctant to disclose.