‘Is this only a girl’s fancy?’ sighed the father.
‘I think she is a sensible girl.’
‘And my nephew Herbert is a hard-headed fellow, not likely to fly off on a vague notion. Is this Hall girl’s mother still living here?’
‘Certainly. It has been a bad business, her going off with that Jones; but I ascertained that she was married to him.’
‘Jones—Sam Jones, or Rattler?’
‘Even so.’
‘Ah! She was dismissed on his account. And I detected him in imposing on Miss Morton. Yet—where does this Mrs. Hall live?’
‘Along this alley. Shall I come with you?’
‘It may induce her to speak out, if there is anything to hear. I dare not hope! It is too incredible, and I don’t understand those children’s silence.’