‘And the other?
‘The elder brother, Tom, was a bad lot too. He had a tragic end. He was drowned. But I don’t think anyone mourned for him. He had well-nigh broken his young wife’s heart in the three years they were married.’
Tanner was like a bloodhound on a hot scent. This was very interesting. He remembered that Sir William Ponson had married a Mrs Dale from this part of the country, whose husband had been drowned on his way to Canada. It looked like as if the Tom Dale of whom Mr Clayton had been speaking might have been this man.
‘What was the business of the Dale brothers?’ he asked.
‘They were both in the same firm—the Eagle Ironworks. You know it maybe—in Gateshead? It was Peter Howard’s then. I remember young Ponson joining it—poor fellow, he’s gone now—it was he that made it. When he started as office boy there was just one small shed and about a dozen men, and now it’s a company employing over a thousand hands. A wonderful change.’
‘Wonderful indeed, Mr Clayton.’
‘Ay. A man of my years can look back over great changes. That’s more than a young fellow like you can do, eh, Mr Tanner?’
‘It’s true, sir. And you say Tom was drowned?’
‘Yes. He got a sudden call. He was in the Numidian. You wouldn’t remember about her?’
‘I don’t think so.’