Old Wheels held his breath.
"Yes, it was," answered the landlady, reluctantly. "There! you shouldn't have forced it out of me! Look at the old gentleman!"
A deadly pallor had come over his face, and he could scarcely stand.
"You must not give way, sir," said Felix, with grave tenderness; "everything depends upon your keeping your strength. Bear in mind that this is what we have come to hear, and that we are approaching nearer and nearer to the unravelling of the plot. And remember, too, dear sir, that I have almost as great a stake in the discovery as you have yourself. There has been foul play, as you suggested; but something assures me that all will come right, and that our dear girl will be restored to us is a few hours. But not if we're not strong. Remember--we are working together for Lily's safety."
His tone was so tender that tears came into the landlady's eyes.
"I will tell you all I know," she said, addressing herself to Felix. "The young lady came in here, and asked me if she could have the use of the parlour for a few minutes, undisturbed. She wanted to speak to the gentleman who came in the cab. They were in the parlour for ten minutes, then they went away together in the cab."
"Thank you, thank you, a thousand times. See, sir, how near we are coming; Now, this gentleman--who was he?"
"I am sure I don't know, sir; I never set eyes on him before to-night."
Felix thought of Alfred, and described his personal appearance. No, it wasn't him, said the landlady. Then Felix described Mr. Sheldrake, and she answered that it was the very man.
Felix drew a long breath; he was almost at the end of the inquiry. One other question remained to be asked. Did she know what direction the cab had taken? No, she didn't know; but she would call the potman in; he was outside all the time. The potman was called in, and being refreshed with a drink and a shilling, remembered, after much circumlocution, that he heard the gentleman tell Thompson to drive towards Epsom.