Colonel Dacre accepted this offer eagerly.
Old Hannah stood at the door, and watched him as he turned over the books, and even looked into the vases on the mantelpiece, coming back to her, at last, with a very disappointed air.
“Perhaps Lady Gwendolyn has written by the post,” he said. “I hardly think she would have left Turoy without giving me notice.”
“Why?” said the woman calmly.
This was a straightforward question, undoubtedly, and only required a straightforward answer; but the Sphinx’s riddle could hardly have puzzled Colonel Dacre more.
He had to ponder a long time before he answered.
“Well,” he said, at last, “I have had the honor of knowing her ladyship for some time.”
“Oh!”
“And I am one of her brother’s best friends.”
“Humph!”