"That is true." Beatrice leaned back again in her chair, and remembered that she and Durban had talked but little about the past. "I should like to know about my mother," she said after a pause.
"There is nothing to know, missy. She married master--and died."
"I was then about a year old?"
"Yes, missy."
"I am twenty-five now, and you have been with Mr. Alpenny for four-and-twenty years; so it seems, Durban, that you first came here with my mother, and remained in Mr. Alpenny's service."
"It is so, missy; I remained for your sake."
"Then you were my mother's servant?"
Durban's face might have been that of a wax doll for all the expression it showed. "I was, missy."
"And you know all about my parents?"
"What there is to know, missy, which is very little. You have never asked about them before; why do you question me now?"