"What do you think, Lady Loudwater?" said Flexen.
"Why, I haven't thought much about it. I always—I—but now I do think about it, I—I—think it's not unlikely," said Olivia, in a tone of no great conviction. "And he was so frightfully upset, too, that night—not that he had any reason to be; but he was."
"Ah, well; my duty is to investigate the matter till there isn't a shadow of doubt left," said Mr. Flexen in a pleasant voice. "I daresay that I shall get to the bottom of it."
With that he left them and went back into the Castle.
At the sight of his back Olivia breathed so deep a sigh of relief that
Grey winced at it.
"If only it could be proved that Egbert did commit suicide!" she said wistfully.
"I don't see any chance of it," said Colonel Grey gloomily. Then he added in a tone of but faint hope: "Unless he wrote to one of his friends that he intended to commit suicide."
Olivia shook her head and said: "Egbert wouldn't do that. He hated letter-writing."
"Besides, if he had, we should have heard of it by now," said Grey.
"The friend might be away," said Olivia. "I know that Mr. Outhwaite was in France."