“At first Mr. Dyson did not object, and Peace became a constant visitor to the house.
“He was plausibility itself. To hear him talk you would have thought him the most harmless of men. I am certain that much which he has succeeded in doing, both before and after the murder, is the result of the power which he has been able to exercise by his tongue and manner.
“Of course, when we went to Darnall we did not know what he was. To us he appeared to be simply a picture-framer in anything but good circumstances, for he had but little business to do, and his wife used to go out every morning washing bottles.
“We considered they were poor. I am, of course, now speaking of the time when we first went to live at Darnall. Mr. Dyson soon begun to tire of him. My husband had travelled much, and could converse well on many subjects.
“Peace was plausible enough, but his language was not good; in fact, he very soon began to show that he was anything but a gentleman. Mr. Dyson could not stand that; and, besides, he had seen something which disgusted him.”
“Do you mind telling me what that was?”
“Well, it was some obscene pictures, and my husband said he didn’t like a man of that kind, and wouldn’t have anything more to do with him. Besides, another thing greatly repelled Mr. Dyson. It was this. Peace wanted to take him to Sheffield to show him what he called the ‘sights of the town.’
“Mr. Dyson knew what that meant, and being, as I have said, a gentleman, he became much disgusted at Peace and annoyed that he should force his company upon us.
“My husband had been accustomed to different society. But we couldn’t get rid of him. We were bound to show him common politeness. Though he must have seen that we didn’t want his company, he forced himself upon us.
“He would, for instance, drop in just when we were sitting down to tea, and we were compelled almost to ask him to have a cup.