"Hush!" murmured Mrs. Jent, glancing nervously at the inner door. "He will hear, Make no mistake, Miss, Mrs. Jenner did it."
"I am certain she did not. However, I trust Mrs. Garvey to put us on the right track. I take the horse down with me." And take it she did, with results quite unexpected to herself, to Heron, and to Mrs. Jent.
Then she had a cup of tea and was escorted by Geoffrey to the station. Needless to say she teased him the whole way.
[CHAPTER XIII.]
JOB, THE SAPENGRO.
In another week Ruth took leave of the delights of Brighton, much to the regret of Mrs. Presser. A letter from Hollyoaks had advised her that Mrs. Chisel and her three children were down on a visit, and that Jennie Brawn, in the capacity of governess, was with them. Mr. Cass, it appeared, had gone to Bordeaux on business, so Ruth was wanted to represent him at the paternal mansion. And anxious to start hunting for evidence likely to reveal the truth about the Jenner case, she willingly returned.
Mrs. Chisel was a tall and somewhat stout woman of the Junoesque type, with a high opinion of herself, her children, her position, her money, and, indeed, of everything which belonged to her, with the one exception of her husband. When Mrs. Marshall heard that Amy Chisel was at Hollyoaks she sent word that she would not enter her brother's house until it was purged of the presence of his elder daughter. In reply to this amiable message Mrs. Chisel hoped her aunt Inez would not spoil her visit by coming over. Upon which Mrs. Marshall made a point of calling every other day and remarking openly and unfavourably upon her niece's management of her children.
These comments were really quite undeserved; for the three children whom Mrs. Chisel--on sufficiently obvious authority--called "her jewels" were nice little people, pretty and well-behaved. The two girls, aged respectively seven and ten, were demure and even a trifle prim. They were always smartly dressed and never made a mess of their clothes. And, moreover, they stood in great awe of their mother, who, as she frequently told them, was a woman in a thousand. It was as well, perhaps, for the peace of the world that such was the case.
Needless to say, Ruth did not present Neil's gift to her little nephew. Mrs. Garvey must see it; and meanwhile she kept it stowed away; for had her sister known that it was intended for George, she would have had it out of her at all costs.
It was on the morning after her arrival that Ruth and Amy had their first little encounter; the subject of it being Mr. Geoffrey Heron.