“How long has this been going on?”
“About a week, sir. I noticed it first last time I had my day out. I didn’t get in until nearly eleven o’clock, and I found her sitting at the table havin’ supper and talkin’ and laughin’ like as though there was folks around.”
“She was entirely alone, was she?” asked Thaddeus.
“Yes, sir.”
“What did you do when you came in?”
“I said ‘Hello’ to her and sat down opposite to her at the table, where there was a place set, and I told her I was glad she had something to eat and a place set for me, because I hadn’t had any supper and I was hungry, sir.”
“Did she make any reply?”
“No, sir. She looked at me kind of indignant, and turned out the gas and went up to bed, leaving me in the dark.”
Thaddeus’s brow grew thoughtful again. It wrinkled into a half-dozen lines as he asked:
“Why didn’t you speak of this before?”