"Hush! Be quiet, and tell me what you know."
Durban wiped his face with the duster which he carried, and, leaning against the door, spoke slowly and to the point. Indeed, he seemed glad that after his years of silence he was at last able to confess freely, and to a sympathetic listener.
"I was born in the West Indies, missy," he said, "and knew your mother and father----"
"You told me that you were born on my mother's estate. Begin from the time you came to Convent Grange."
"Very well, missy. I came to Convent Grange with my master to see Mr. Paslow's father, who was an old friend of the Colonel's. Master and your mother had quarrelled. He was severe, and kept your mother too quiet. She liked gaiety and pleasure, yet so severely had he trained her that she was always silent and demure. She came down with you and your nurse for one night. Then my master was murdered, as you know."
"Can you tell who murdered him?"
"No, missy." Durban spoke very earnestly. "I swear that I do not know who did that. But your mother was suspected. She cleared herself; but people still looked at her askance, so she changed her name to Hedge and married Mr. Alpenny. Here"--Durban glanced out of doors"--in this quiet place she was safe, and here she lived until she died, worn out with grief, a few months later. Mr. Alpenny then sent you to Miss Shallow at Brighton, and you know all your life since then."
"Why did my mother marry Mr. Alpenny?"
"Because she had the Obi necklace. Your father gave it to her, she told me."
"And Major Ruck said the same thing."