On the stairs he met Humphrey.
"Sir Robert? Been to see my mother? She's not ill, I hope?"
"Best not go to her just now. She is a little troubled about herself."
"Nothing serious, I hope?" He spoke with the cold show of interest in which one might speak of a servant.
"Anything may become serious; but we will hope that in this case——"
"Come into my room for a moment, if you can spare the time." He led the way to his study. "I want to ask you about a man I met at your house—that fellow with the money, who says he was a gardener once, and looks it still."
"What about him?"
"He's been here. He called here the other day. Sat half an hour—said he wasn't used to my kind of conversation."
"Well, he isn't—is he?"