Edwin had been suspecting that possibly Hilda had given some hint to Janet as to the nature of her relations with him. He now ceased to suspect that. He grew easier. He gathered up the reins again, though in a rather limp hand.
“Why is she so bound to stay in Brighton?” he inquired with affected boldness.
“She’s got a boarding-house.”
“I see. Well, it’s a good thing she has a private income of her own.”
“That’s just the point,” said Janet sadly. “We very much doubt if she has any private income any longer.”
Edwin waited for further details, but Janet seemed to speak unwilling. She would follow him, but she would not lead.
Four.
Behind them he could hear the stir of Mrs Hamps’s departure. She and Maggie were coming down the stairs. Guessing not the dramatic arrival of Janet Orgreave and the mysterious nephew, Mrs Hamps, having peeped into the empty dining-room, said: “I suppose the dear boy has gone,” and forthwith went herself. Edwin smiled cruelly at the thought of what her joy would have been actually to inspect the mysterious nephew at close quarters, and to learn the strange suspicious truth that he was not a nephew after all.
“Auntie!” yelled the boy across the garden.