"Oh, no; by no means," said Owain hastily; "but you might have mentioned the Welsh name to some one else."
"No," said Madame Alpenny decidedly. "That is, I mentioned it only to Zara, and she took little notice of what I mentioned. Of course, there was Mr. Spruce, who was in this room when we talked about my meeting with your father. But he is not likely to have asked you to meet him in Essex, when he can see you here any day; also he probably has not seen the advertisement."
"Oh, I don't suspect Spruce, Madame; and that reminds me, it will be as well to say nothing to Spruce about the matter."
"Am I a chatter-box, or a fool?" asked Madame fiercely, and with a lowering look on her face. "Certainly I will say nothing to Mr. Spruce. But you must tell me all that takes place when you meet whosoever you are to meet."
"I am going to meet no one," retorted Hench resolutely; "there is no need for me to do so."
"But, my friend, you will hear of something greatly to your advantage, as it said in the newspaper," expostulated the woman, frowning.
"I mean to wait until I get the papers from my lawyers on the tenth of July, Madame. They may tell me of the something greatly to my advantage without my going on a wild-goose chase into Essex."
"But I don't understand your objection."
"It is this. If I go now, I am quite in ignorance of my family history with which this appointment has to do, as I shrewdly suspect. If I go after the tenth of July I will be in a better position to deal with the matter, as I think the papers at my lawyers' will tell me much about my father."
Madame Alpenny nodded. "There is something in that. All the same, this advertisement concerns you and not your father, who is dead and buried."