“It is not my ghost,” replied the gentleman, holding out his hand. He was a little man, with fair hair, this Mr. Rodolf Pain, cousin to the two ladies. “Did I alarm you, Charlotte?”
“Alarm me!” she angrily rejoined. “You must have sprung from the earth.”
“I have sprung from the railway station. Where is Verrall?”
“Why have you come down so unexpectedly?” exclaimed Mrs. Verrall.
“To see Verrall. I return to-morrow.”
“Verrall goes up to-morrow night.”
“I know he does. And that is why I have come down.”
“You might have waited to see him in London,” said Charlotte, her equanimity not yet restored.
“It was necessary for me to see him before he reached London. Where shall I find him, Mrs. Verrall?”
“In the dining-room,” Mrs. Verrall replied. “What can you want with him so hurriedly?”