That was her theory. And once the girl had formed a theory as the result of observation, she hated that theory to be upset.
Mr. Silver displeased her because he blew her hypothesis to smithereens on his first appearance; for he was an Eton man, yet clearly he did not come within any of the three known categories.
At first the girl escaped from her intellectual dilemma by a simple and purely feminine wile—she refused to believe that he was an Eton man.
And even when it was proved to her that he had rowed in the Eton boat she remained unconvinced.
"Need you be an Eton man to be in the Eton boat?" she inquired warily.
Mr. Haggard, her informant, thought it probable, but added that he would inquire.
It was not till she had known the young man some six months that she settled the question for herself by asking him point-blank if he had been at Eton.
"I believe so," he answered.
That was his invariable answer to the question when put to him. Now for once he elaborated on it a little.
"Mother wanted me to go," he added. "Father didn't."