‘He is. Very big, very rough, very strong. A tiny smile crept into Mr. Femm’s face. ‘He is also dumb.’
‘Dumb!’ Sir William was taken aback. Somehow he couldn’t see himself trying to reason with somebody who was dumb.
Mr. Femm nodded. ‘Very strong, very stupid, and dumb. I said he was very close to Nature.’ He nodded again and then walked away. Sir William stared and began to whistle soundlessly. This fellow was as odd as his servant. He joined the Wavertons at the fire.
CHAPTER VI
After they had all risen from the table, Gladys and Penderel found themselves standing together. There were several yards and the width of the table between them and the others, who were close to the fire. This isolation was accidental, but they were in no hurry to put an end to it. The mood of candour and revelation had passed, leaving them rather shy and awkward with one another, but something had been carried over from that shared feeling. Their faces were still strange but their feet were on common ground.
Gladys looked about her and gave a little shiver. ‘Glad I’m not here alone,’ she told him. ‘This place’d give me the horrors.’
Penderel was curious. ‘D’you mean absolutely alone?’
‘No, I didn’t really. I meant just with the people here.’
‘The Femms?’ He hoped that that was what she did mean.
She met his glance and nodded. ‘Yes. There’s something a bit queer about the man, but that little fat woman, with the voice—there’s something about her....’ She finished the sentence by wrinkling her nose.