“Well, she wore a thick white veil so that I couldn’t see her face quite distinctly,” the man answered; “but she, like yourself, declared that she knew Mr Ashwicke, and had been a visitor here. She asked to see the very same rooms as you have seen. Very curious, isn’t it?”
“Very,” I exclaimed in wonder. “Did she give any further explanation?”
“No; she gave me half a sovereign instead,” he laughed.
“And she also declared that Mr Ashwicke had lived here recently?”
“Yes; that’s what caused me to inquire.”
“Very remarkable,” I said. “I wonder who she could have been. Can’t you give the slightest description of her?”
“I only noticed that she spoke in a soft, refined voice, and that she had very pretty eyes, blue-grey, I believe they were. But those thick white veils, with embroidery on them, make it very difficult to see a woman’s face clearly.”
“And her hair? Was she fair or dark?”
“Between colours.”
“Fair?”