"Hasn't it occurred to you that she may have joined Mrs. Lessingham in the country?"
"She has taken nothing—not even a travelling-bag."
"You come, of course, from the Spences' house?"
Elgar replied with an affirmative. As soon as he had done so, he remembered that this was as much as corroborating Mallard's conjecture with regard to Miriam; but for that he cared little. He had begun to discern something odd in the relations between Miriam and Mallard, and suspected that Cecily might in some way be the cause of it.
"Did they not at once suggest that she was with Mrs. Lessingham?"
Elgar muttered a "No," averting his face.
"What did they suggest, then?"
"I saw only my sister," said Reuben, irritably.
"And your sister thought I was the most likely person to know of Mrs. Elgar's whereabouts?"
"Yes, she did."