"Eli, I want to sit down and think," Ulick had said, and, wonderingly, he bade him make the house his home, as he had always done.
Janet, pale and bewildered, left the room.
"Is anything the matter, Mr. Ulick?" asked Eli.
"You'll learn soon enough," was the vague reply; and then he saw Ulick take out his pocket-book and count some notes.
"Have some supper?" said Eli.
"No, I dined at home an hour ago." Then he looked hard at Eli. Surely he knew what people were saying, knew of the gossip about Janet. It amazed him when he had to acknowledge that Eli Todd was the only person in the village who was in ignorance of what concerned him most.
"Where's Janet? I must speak to her," said Ulick.
Eli called her, and she came slowly into the room, her face as pale as death.
"Mr. Ulick wishes to speak to you. I'll leave you together, I want to look at Blossom again."
What passed between them he never knew; what he did know was that next morning Janet was gone.