"So it was the Frobishers who saved you by sending off a rescue party!" she exclaimed when he had finished. "But how did they know you were in danger?"
"That's more than I can tell. Of course, we were behind our time, but that doesn't account for all. I've a suspicion that Miss Frobisher had some means of finding out the most serious risk we ran."
Ethel thought this indicated that Geraldine took a marked interest in the man. She wondered if it had occurred to him.
"And you believe the fellow really meant to starve you?" she said.
"He didn't intend us to find the food. It comes to the same thing."
"But his conduct seems so inhuman! Surely, he would not have let you die of hunger with no better reason than to prevent you from interfering with his contract?"
Andrew hesitated. He could not tell her that Mappin might have been actuated by jealousy; modesty prevented his doing so.
"The fellow is greedy and unscrupulous enough for anything," he replied evasively.
"But you hinted that he was clever," Ethel persisted. "Only a fool would commit a serious crime for a small advantage."
"It's certainly puzzling," Andrew admitted.