“You can take off your furs,” he said, as they entered. “I have blocked the window with snow, and stretched a blanket over it. I am afraid that it will be rather dark, but that is unavoidable.”
The two girls followed his suggestion and seated themselves by the stove. For a little time no one spoke, and the red glow of the fire shining on their faces showed them very thoughtful. At last, Joy broke the silence.
“You were saying that two or three days after your cousin left here a stranger arrived. Who was it? Do you know?”
Dick Bracknell laughed mirthlessly. “I do not know for certain. I can only guess.”
“And you guess——”
“That it was old Rayner’s son—Adrian, I think you called him. Of course he didn’t tell me who he was, but he let out that he was looking for my Cousin Roger, and posed as a lawyer’s clerk. I’m morally certain, however, that he was young Rayner!”
Joy remembered his sudden change of manner when she had said that Adrian Rayner was in the North, looking, as she believed for Roger Bracknell, and after a moment, urged by something deeper than curiosity, she spoke, “You hinted that something very significant had occurred to you. What was it?”
Dick Bracknell hesitated, and it was evident that he was wondering whether to tell her or not. Then he laughed bitterly. “You may as well know all the kinds of fool I am. This stranger pitched a yarn about you and Roger, and I was fool enough to believe him.”
He broke off and looked at Joy, whose face was flaming. Even in the red glow of the firelight the flush revealed itself to him, but though he frowned a little, he continued in an even voice. “He told me that my brother Geoffrey was dead, and that as I was either dead or as good as dead, Roger quite naturally was reckoned as the heir to Harrow Fell. He said further that you knew of this and that you were looking for Roger with the news and with the intention of marrying him.”
“Oh!”