Jacob made no reply at all to this, and Hester did not even know if he heard her.
At the appointed hour, however, she made her appearance at the door of the pantry. She held a key in her hand.
“I saw Leah half an hour ago,” she said.
“Leah! and who is Leah?” asked Jacob.
“She is the poor mad lady’s caretaker.”
Jacob began to polish up his silver—he held a chamois leather in his hand.
“Now that’s curious,” he said in a slow voice; “so you keep a mad lady on the premises?”
“That we do—she is in the Queen Anne wing.”
“You don’t say so!”
“I do. I can take you over the wing if you come at once.”