“The Aldingtons?”
“Yes, that was the name. She seemed so much interested in you that I’ve been anxious to know you ever since, especially as I thought you might be related to my old friends. But Rachel is an odd creature. She wouldn’t let me speak to you, and I thought perhaps she was jealous of my attractions.”
And the old lady laughed delightfully.
“That may well have been,” said Gerard, smiling.
Lady Jennings looked at him with keen, dark eyes.
“Rachel’s an odd girl,” she said. “I’ve had her living with me for some months now, but I can’t say I understand her yet, though I pride myself on having some knowledge of human nature. She’s singularly attractive, but eccentric, very eccentric.”
“Yes,” said Gerard eagerly, “that’s just what I’ve thought. And that makes her more interesting than other girls.”
“Yes,” said the old lady rather slowly, “I suppose it does. But it’s puzzling sometimes.”
There was a pause for Gerard did not like to ask direct questions, though he was dying to know in what way Rachel puzzled her clever old friend.
While he was wondering whether he dared put a discreet interrogation about Rachel and her somewhat mysterious accomplishments, Lady Jennings said abruptly—