"Then all the rest is easy. To whom does this ghost-motif lead you?"
"I need hardly say; for it must have occurred to you that there is one member of the Hollister family we have n't mentioned in this connection."
"If you mean Hezekiah"—
"None other!"
The surprise in her face was not feigned,—I was confident of this,—and the questions evoked by my answer at once danced in her eyes.
"If Hezekiah should be caught in the house just now we should all pay dearly for her rashness. Believe me, this is true. Some day you may know the whys and wherefores; at present no one may know. There is this, however,—if Hezekiah or my father should be found at Hopefield Manor, anywhere on the premises, while I am there, the consequences would be disastrous,—more so than I dare tell you. But why should Hezekiah wish to prowl about there at night,—to assume for a moment that she is doing it?"
Her manner was wholly earnest. It was plain that she had entered into some sort of a compact with her aunt, and no doubt the arrangement was in the characteristic whimsical vein of which I had enjoyed personal experience. I did not wish to press Cecilia for explanations she might not be free to make, but I ventured a suggestion or two.
"Hezekiah may be entering the house and playing ghost for amusement, merely in a spirit of childish rebellion against the interdiction that forbids her the house. That is quite plausible, Hezekiah being the spirited young person we know her to be. And it may amuse her, too, to plug the chimneys at a time when her sister is enjoying the visits of suitors. Without quite realizing that such was her animus, she may be the least,—the very least bit jealous!"
Cecilia flushed and her eyes flashed indignantly. She bent toward me eagerly.
"Please do not say such a thing! You must not even think it!"