Mrs. Grail was in the background. She was supporting herself by a chair; her face gave proof of some agitation just experienced. Gilbert was very pale, but when Lydia ended he seemed to master himself and spoke with an unnatural calm.
'Have you heard anything,' he asked, 'of a calumny the Bowers have been spreading, about your sister and Mr. Egremont?'
'Yes. I have heard it.'
'When did it first come to your knowledge?'
'On Wednesday night. Mr. Ackroyd told me.'
'And did Thyrza hear of it?'
'No, Gilbert. I think not.'
He moved in surprise.
'You say she has gone? What makes you think she has left us?'
To hide anything now was worse than useless. Without speaking, she held to him the scrap of paper. He, having read, turned to his mother.