"Oh, why, ma'am?"
"It would interest me to know, that is all."
"Some say it is a hermit, a bearish kind of gentleman who sees no one and never goes out."
"Ah," said Dora. "Is he a painter?"
"I think so, ma'am, but I am not sure."
"He has had the house done up like new."
"I have heard that he is going to be married—that he has had the house finely decorated for his future wife."
"Ah, and who told you all these details?"
"The tradespeople," replied Hobbs quickly.
Dora went on writing, and Hobbs, fearing she had said too much, determined to turn a deaf ear to any questions Dora might put to her in future on the subject of 50 Elm Avenue and its new master.