“Then do you know the Daltons?”

“Oh, yes,” said Muriel. “Helen Dalton is a friend of mine. Although the Scar's some way off, I see her now and then. But are you going there?”

“I am; I wish it wasn't needful,” Festing answered rather gloomily.

“Ah!” said Muriel, giving him a sharp glance. “Helen was to have married a man in Canada, but the engagement was broken off. Do you know him?”

“I do. That's why I'm going to the Scar. I've promised to explain matters as far as I can.”

Muriel studied his disturbed face with a twinkle of amusement. “Well, I'm sorry for Helen; it must have been a shock. For all that, I thought the engagement a mistake.”

“Then you have seen Charnock?”

“Once. He's a friend of some people Helen used to stay with in the South, but I met him at the Scar. Handsome, and charming, in a way, but I thought him weak.”

“What are Miss Dalton's people like?”

“Don't you want to know what Helen is like?”