"Of course, either theory will fit," remarked the shrewd man of the world, who had picked up so much knowledge of life in his forty-five strenuous years.
He paused for a few moments before he spoke again.
"Now look here, Murchison, I can read you like a book. I haven't told you very much more than you know yourself, or could have pieced together. You are disappointed because I couldn't tell you anything of her history prior to her appearance in the L'Estrange household. Well, there, I am at fault. And you have a particular reason for wanting to know. In other words, you have some suspicions of your own."
Hugh felt he must be cautious. In connecting Mrs. Spencer with Norah Burton he might be on the wrong track altogether, have been deceived by a striking, but purely accidental, resemblance. He could not be too frank with a man of Fairfax's temperament. Rumour had it that he would always respect a confidence, but his general reputation was that of a chatterbox. He spoke guardedly.
"Yes, certain undefined ones, quite undefined, please understand that." Then, speaking a little more frankly, "What I dearly want to know is, was she a straight woman before she charmed my friend Guy Spencer into marrying her."
Fairfax smiled his slow, wise smile: "I am glad you have put your cards on the table. Of course I guessed from the beginning that it was what you were after. Well, I shan't breathe a word of this to anybody; I can hold my tongue when I have a mind. You have a deep interest in the matter for the sake of the Southleigh family, eh?"
Hugh had to admit that it was so.
"Well, I am going to tell you something that, up to the present, I have not told to anybody else, and, to tell you the truth, I was not in the least interested in Guy Spencer's marriage. If he chose to marry a girl without a past, that was his affair. But I see you are keen."
"Yes, I am very keen."
"Good! well, I will give you a little information, from which you can draw your own inferences. They are as open to you as to me, and I shall just state the bare facts. As you know, Esmond had to bolt to the Continent. On a certain morning I came up from the country by an early train, landing at Charing Cross. I went to the bookstall to buy a few papers. I must tell you that I am one of those persons who have eyes at the back of their head, and see everything going on around them."