“Certainly. A tall, dark young lady.”
“That’s Dolly Drummond. There’s only one lady livin’ there. She’s with her uncle, Mr. Purvis.”
“Do you know anything about him?”
“Only that he’s ’er uncle—’er guardian, too, I fancy. She didn’t tell me much about him, and I haven’t seen him myself.”
“Well,” I said; “you may be surprised to know that he’s the man to whom you sold that piece of parchment.”
“What!” cried the old man, glaring at me. “Is he ’er uncle? Why, then, that accounts for the questions she put to me.”
“What about?”
“About the old secret way from the Glebe Farm into the Manor House at Caldecott. My father knew about it, and told me of it, but nobody’s been able to find it yet.”
“And the young lady came to you for information?”
“She’s heard me mention it when she were a girl, so I suppose her curiosity was aroused and that was why she came to me for information.”