“An Irish girl?”
“O no, American. She is not a common person, sir.”
“What do you mean by that? That she was educated, lady-like, pretty, or what?”
“I don’t know what to say. She was educated, yes, but not as you would call a lady educated. Yet she knew a great many things the rest of us did’nt. She liked to read, you see, and—O sir, ask the girls about her, I never know what to say when I am questioned.”
I scanned the gray-haired woman still more intently than I had yet done. Was she the weak common-place creature she seemed, or had she really some cause other than appeared for these her numerous breaks and hesitations.
“Where did you get this girl?” I inquired. “Where did she live before coming here?”
“I cannot say, I never asked her to talk about herself. She came to me for work and I liked her and took her without recommendation.”
“And she has served you well?”
“Excellently.”
“Been out much? Had any visitors?”