"She said nothing. I could get nothing out of her, of what I wanted to hear. She said you were quite well, making a visit at a friend's house in the country."
"That—is—not—true!" said Rotha slowly and indignantly. "Did she tell you that?"
"Are you not making a visit here?"
"What is a 'visit'? No, I am not. And, it is not a friend's house, either."
"How came you here? and when? and what for, then?" said he now in his turn.
"I came—some time in last May; near the end, I believe."
"Why?"
Rotha lifted her eyes to his. "I do not know," she said.
"What was the alleged reason for your coming?"
"Aunt Serena was going, she said, to Chicago, on a visit, and my presence would not be convenient. I could not stay in the house in New York alone. So I was sent here. That is all I know."