‘Will you kindly tell me which turning will take me to Casterbridge?’
‘The second on the right,’ said Mrs. Manston.
Owen put on a blank look: he held his hand to his ear—conveying to the lady the idea that he was deaf.
She came closer and said more distinctly—
‘The second turning on the right.’
Owen flushed a little. He fancied he had beheld the revelation he was in search of. But had his eyes deceived him?
Once more he used the ruse, still drawing nearer and intimating by a glance that the trouble he gave her was very distressing to him.
‘How very deaf!’ she murmured. She exclaimed loudly—
‘The second turning to the right.’
She had advanced her face to within a foot of his own, and in speaking mouthed very emphatically, fixing her eyes intently upon his. And now his first suspicion was indubitably confirmed. Her eyes were as black as midnight.