“Splendid.”

“Did he look you in the eyes?”

“Once, only once, the first time I visited the house.”

Challis nodded. “My own experience, exactly. And did you return that look of his?”

“Not willingly. It was, I confess, not altogether a pleasant experience.”

“Ah!”

Challis was silent for a few moments, and it was Walters who took up the interrogatory.

“Challis!”

“Yes?”

“Have you, now, some feeling of, shall I say, distaste for the child? Do you feel that you have no wish to see it again?”