“I don’t believe it,” he said, abruptly, and a moment later he hastily left the room, leaving his mother greatly agitated.
Henderson had not left the house the whole morning, but after pacing up and down his own bedroom for some minutes an extreme restlessness came over him, and he went toward the stables, and in the stable yard he found Jack Reid, the groom, rubbing down a horse.
The man did not look around as his master approached him, but went on with his task, while Henderson stood a moment or two looking on without speaking.
“Billy looks very fresh this morning,” he said, presently, with affected carelessness, and the groom, still without looking around, only nodded his head in answer to his master’s remark.
Henderson moved uneasily, and then, after another pause and in an uneven voice, he said:
“What’s this story, Jack, my mother’s been telling me about some woman or other being found in Fern Dene?”
Then Jack did look around, and Henderson’s eyes shifted and fell as he did so.
“It’s Miss Wray,” he said, in a sullen tone; “she’s been found dead in the Dene.”
“Miss Wray! Dead!—impossible!” exclaimed Henderson.
“It’s true enough, though,” answered Jack, roughly.