A frown contracted the gentleman's face as his eye fell upon the name it bore. "I wish she had chosen some other time," Arthur heard him mutter under his breath. But to the messenger who was waiting, he said: "Show Lady Mary Murray to my room downstairs, and tell her I will be with her immediately."
Then he concluded his business with Arthur as quickly as he could, and went down after the messenger.
"Good-morning, my lady!" he said, as he entered the room where Lady Mary was standing as erect as a dart. She was nearly six feet in height, with high, bony, prominent cheek-bones and small eager dark eyes, and she stood in the middle of the small waiting-room as Mr. Brading entered, looking anything but pleasant or amiable.
"Pray be seated," said the gentleman, drawing forward a large easy-chair.
But she pushed it aside with her foot. "I have no time to waste, Mr. Brading," she said. "I have come to know what you mean by sending me such a note as you did yesterday? I sent you a cheque for five pounds more than a week ago in payment of my account, and have received no receipt for the money?"
"Because the letter has never reached us, and consequently we have not had the cheque," said Mr. Brading, looking keenly at her.
They stood facing each other for a minute in silence, and then Lady Mary said: "Then one of your servants must have stolen the letter!"
"No, indeed, that is not possible, I think. Will, you tell me when and where the letter was posted, and which of your servants took it to the post."
"It was not a servant at all, but my son took it for me, as he was just going out, early in the evening."
"Then it should have reached us the next morning, by the first post, in fact. Now I will tell you what our arrangements with the post office are, that you may see how impossible it is that the letter could have reached us. The first post is always the heaviest—"