"I can't form one," he said. "Sometimes I have thought Anthony must have attempted to run down the rocks by the uncertain path from the chapel ruins, and have perished in the sea; at others I think he may have left Greylands voluntarily that night, and will some day or other reappear again as unexpectedly. His father Basil was given to these impromptu flights, you know."
"But this is all supposition?"
"Undoubtedly it is. Who was it, then, they watched into the Keep, you ask?--that is the least-to-be-accounted-for statement of all. My opinion is that no one entered it; that John Bent's eyesight deceived him."
"And now one more question, James," resumed the Squire, insensibly returning to the more familiar appellation of former days: "is Greylands' Rest yours, or was it left to Basil?"
"It is mine."
"Did it come to you by will?"
For a moment Mr. Castlemaine hesitated before giving an answer. The persistent questioning annoyed him; and yet he did not know how to escape it.
"It became mine by deed of gift."
"Why did you not show the deed to Anthony?"
"I might have done so had he waited. He was too impatient. I should have done it:" and the emphasis here was marked. "To no one save yourself have I acknowledged so much, Squire Dobie. I recognize in none the right to question me."