However, Haskins determined to beard the lion in his den, which for the moment was Geary's village inn. Gerald himself decided to remain at the Prince's Head, Silbury, since the negro, by Rebb's orders, might make himself highly disagreeable should the young man live under the sinister roof of the Devon Maid. But Haskins was not easily intimidated, and, even though the Major and his underling joined forces to thwart him, he felt quite equal to dealing with them, collectively or separately. Right was on his side, and Gerald had an implicit belief that good was stronger than evil. Those who fought in the cause for which Geary and Rebb were fighting could not possibly triumph.
It was after four o'clock when Haskins arrived in Silbury, and he repaired at once to the Prince's Head. Mrs. Jennings was glad to see him, and gave him his old room. He learned that Rebb in his motor car had gone two days previously to Denleigh, and had not returned to the little town. He was visiting an elderly relative at Leegarth, said the landlady, and Gerald smiled when he noticed how persistently the Major kept up the fiction, to account for his presence in the neighborhood. While he was having afternoon tea he asked questions, and learned to his surprise that Bellaria was the elderly relative.
"She is an Italian," said Haskins, on hearing this.
"One of them nasty foreigners," assented the plump hostess, "of course she is, sir, for I've seen her myself. At times she come to Silbury for marketing, and she went to London the other day, coming back in a broken-up condition, as you might say."
Haskins smiled grimly. He knew well what had broken Bellaria up. "But she can't be any relative of Major Rebb," he expostulated, "he is quite English, Mrs. Jennings."
"Irish, begging your pardon, sir, but it's this way, as the Major told me himself when he stopped here for the night. This Miss Bellaria's parents were Italian, and Major Rebb's were Irish. But his father died and her mother; so her father married the Major's mother, which makes them a kind of sister and brother."
Gerald shrugged his shoulders at this somewhat confused description, and shook his head. "It may please Rebb to call Bellaria Dondi his elderly relative," he said quietly, "but in reality there is no relationship between them."
Mrs. Jennings nodded in her turn. "And he ain't very kind to her," she went on disapprovingly, "for she do look miserable when she comes out of that lunatic asylum, as you might call it."
"Lunatic asylum!" Haskins received a shock. He had no idea that the rumor of Mavis' insanity had spread so far as Silbury. But Mrs. Jennings seemed to know all about it.
"Oh yes, sir, don't you know?" she remarked, earnestly. "Miss Bellaria is set to watch that poor girl, Mavis Durham, who is quite mad."