She led him into the library and somehow or other by the time she had got him ink and paper and pen she found herself talking to this distinguished looking stranger in the most friendly way. It was not that he was forward or gallant, far from it; simply that he was so nice and so remarkably sympathetic. Within five minutes of making his acquaintance, Mary felt that she could tell him almost anything.
This sympathetic visitor made several appreciative remarks about the house and garden, and then, just as he had dipped his pen into the ink, he remarked:
"Rather a tempting house for burglars, I should think—if such people existed in these peaceable parts."
"Oh, but they do, sir," she assured him. "We had one in this very house one night!"
XXXIII
THE HOUSE OF MYSTERIES
The sympathetic stranger almost laid down his pen, he was so interested by this unexpected reply.