"Ah! I daresay it would have been a good thing if he had accepted your very wise suggestion, Mrs. Mitcham."
"No doubt he knew best," replied the housekeeper, primly. She considered that in making observations the policeman was stepping out of his sphere.
"And then you showed him in. Did you witness the meeting between himself and Lady Dormer?"
"I did not." (emphatically). "Miss Dorland got up and said 'How do you do, General Fentiman?' and shook hands with him, and then I left the room, as it was my place to do."
"Just so. Was Miss Dorland alone with Lady Dormer when General Fentiman was announced?"
"Oh, no—the nurse was there."
"The nurse—yes, of course. Did Miss Dorland and the nurse stay in the room all the time that the General was there?"
"No. Miss Dorland came out again in about five minutes and came downstairs. She came to me in the housekeeper's room, and she looked rather sad. She said, 'Poor old dears,'—just like that."
"Did she say any more?"
"She said: 'They quarrelled, Mrs. Mitcham, ages and ages ago, when they were quite young, and they've never seen each other since.' Of course, I was aware of that, having been with her ladyship all these years, and so was Miss Dorland."