"Who was she?"
"I don't know."
"Don't know the lady?"
"No."
"Odd, too! Haven't you any idea? Surely her name was mentioned?"
"No; my mother wrote in a roundabout style, so as to feel her way. She knew me, and feared that I might take a prejudice against the lady. No doubt I should have done so. She only alluded to her in a general way."
"A general way?"
"Yes; that is, you know, she mentioned the fact that the lady was a niece of Sir Gilbert Biggs."
"What!" cried Dacres, with a start.
"A niece of Sir Gilbert Biggs," repeated Hawbury.