“And you can pretend to doubt still!”
“I am pretending nothing, my dear. It is well sometimes to reserve judgement.”
“Did you see Mrs. Brooke?”
“No; she was in bed and ill—too ill for an interview. I must go again to-morrow morning.”
“But didn’t you explain matters?”
“I asked first about Mrs. Brooke’s little girl, and then mentioned our having found a child of that age in the valley. The woman seemed rather bewildered, said it could not be Mrs. Brooke’s child, but advised me to call again in the morning, if I wished to make further inquiries. She said Mrs. Brooke was really in no state for an interview to-day. Things being so, I thought it wise not to go further into particulars, and I said little about Joan.”
“Ah, I see you suspect! And am I to be left alone all day to-morrow again?”
“No; I hope it might be fine enough for you to come too. If I should be denied admittance, you might get in.”
“Georgie, do you suppose that this woman is in league with Mrs. Brooke? Don’t know?—of course you don’t, but one may guess. Is the cottage near the valley?”
“Some distance off; but Mrs. Brooke seems to have gone there several times with her little girl. Tourists are so plentiful at this time of the year that the less attention has been drawn to them. I imagine also that Mrs. Brooke has shrunk a good deal from observation. The woman spoke of her loneliness, and said she had no friends.”