“I’m interested in that inexorable grand-aunt of yours,” he said. “What is her name?”
“Susanna Frink,” returned Hugh, “affectionately known in the bosom of the family as ‘Old Sukey the Freak.’”
His host sat up and leaned forward. “Not possible! Susanna Frink your aunt?”
“’Tisn’t my fault,” said Hugh, raising the smooth dark eyebrows his host had been admiring.
“But I know her,” said Ogden. “There’s a masterful old lady for you!”
“You bet your life,” agreed Hugh. “I’ve always believed she must be a descendant of that old galoot—I mean Canute, that commanded the proud wave—thus far and no farther!”
“Well, I never knew that Susanna Frink was Mr. Sinclair’s aunt. He never said much about her to me, but Carol used to laugh about a family fortune that was so near and yet so far. Miss Frink is a personage, Hugh. I’ve had business dealings with her, and she prides herself on being a lady of the old school. She told me so herself. All alone in the world, and feels it, I know, for all her proud front.”
“False front probably,” put in Hugh.
“Perhaps.” Ogden smiled. “Anyway, it is dark—”
“What did I tell you!”