"Enlist your sympathies?" repeated the visitor, staring.
"Yes. You want me," continued Miss Pearl, in a ponderously playful manner, "to ask Sir Joseph to permit you to pay your addresses. I shall do so with pleasure, as I have every sympathy with you and Miss Branwin."
Shawe still stared in a dazed way, as this speech completely puzzled him, and--in vulgar parlance--took the wind out of his sails. Here he had come practically to accuse a lady of being connected with the murder of a woman whom she had wished to supplant, and this very lady was now most generously offering her assistance to forward his private aims. Shawe could not quite understand if this was cunning on Rosy Pearl's part or mere stupidity, or perhaps the liberal offer of a generous nature. He noted the careful way in which she spoke and her method of picking out well-sounding words, and mentally observed that she was doing her best to correct a defective education by thinking well before she spoke.
In the meantime Miss Pearl did not hurry him, as she appeared to be a singularly leisurely person. With her large calm eyes gazing amiably at him, her gracious, rounded figure, and whole placid pose, she reminded Ralph of nothing so much as a sacred white cow. But cows can be furious when aroused, and the barrister wondered if she would rise in her majesty like Bellona, the goddess of war, when she learnt the true meaning of his visit. But she must be stupid, he thought, else she would have persisted in learning straight away the meaning of his first enigmatic remark. Yet she accepted his postponement calmly, and was quite ready to wait for an explanation.
"I am greatly obliged to you for your kindness, Miss Pearl," he said quietly; "but I fear your offer of help is too late. Sir Joseph has had a serious quarrel with his daughter."
"A serious quarrel with his daughter?" repeated the woman, slowly, as if trying to get the idea well into her head; then she added, after a pause; "I should like to hear what the quarrel is about."
Ralph did not intend to tell her, and he was sure Branwin would be too much ashamed of himself to give the information. "Well, you know, Miss Pearl, that Sir Joseph wanted his daughter to marry Lord Anvers. She refused him, so Miss Branwin left the house, as her father was so furious with her."
"Miss Branwin has left the house? And where is she staying now?"
"At the Pink Shop," said Shawe, promptly. He was unwilling to name Audrey's temporary abode, but did so, to see what effect the name had on this calm and undemonstrative woman.
It had an effect, indeed, for Miss Pearl's white skin slowly became a vivid crimson, and for the first time during the interview she displayed emotion. Perhaps she was aware of the meaning in Shawe's gaze when he saw this agitation, for she gave an excuse.