“Nonsense!” I replied. “He was unmistakably a gentleman, as I have told you. And after all, they have had visitors, as you know.”
“Yes, but they came openly, and were driven to and from the station. If this were a visitor, he has managed to come and go in a most mysterious way. No, it is much more likely to have been a tax-collector. You could not see him plainly, you know.”
“Would a man like that have a private key for a private door?” I said. “Don’t be so silly, Zella.”
“Well, we need not quarrel about it till we are sure there is a door,” Isabel replied good-humouredly. “In the meantime, tell me what you think of the poor Greys, now that you have seen them for yourself?”
“I will tell you,” I replied impressively. “To begin with, the sisters are just what you said; they must have been pretty, one of them at least, in a fair, gentle way, and the younger brother’s face is almost saintly. I have got those three pretty clearly defined. But,”—and here my voice deepened, I feel sure—“the one is the elder brother! He is at the bottom of it all;” and I went on to mention what I had noticed in his expression and bearing. “Don’t you remember my telling you so even before I had any reason for it? It was an intuition.”
Isabel seemed considerably impressed.
“Yes,” she replied. “I do remember what you said; but you know, Regina, you do give the reins to your imagination sometimes, and I, I suppose, am very matter-of-fact. So you see I didn’t think very much of your idea, as you had then no grounds for it. But now I allow that it does seem probable Mr Grey’s face is all you say; it tells of cruel struggle, and endurance too, while the others rather express patience and resignation. He must—the elder one, I mean—have been very good-looking.”
“He has a very high-bred look,” I agreed. “But, Isabel, who can my stranger have been? Is it possible that there is a fifth member of the party who is kept dark altogether?”
Isabel shook her head.
“Quite impossible, I should say; besides, the man you met was young. He could not have been reared up there from boyhood.”