e been, disappears--when, without warning and
without leaving any account of himself he vanishes from among those who
knew him--the persons most closely interested pass through three stages
of anxiety. They doubt first whether the disappearance is real and
whether inquiry on their part will not be resented; they waken next to
realization that the man is actually gone, and that something must be
done; the third stage is open and public inquiry. Whatever might be
the nature of the information Sherrill was withholding from him, Alan
saw that its effect on Sherrill had been to shorten very greatly
Sherrill's time of doubt as to Corvet's actual disappearance. The
Sherrills--particularly Sherrill himself--had been in the second stage
of anxiety when Alan came; they had been awaiting Alan's arrival in the
belief that Alan could give them information which would show them what
must be "done" about Corvet. Alan had not been able to give them this
information; but his coming, and his interview with Sherrill, had
strongly influenced Sherrill's attitude. Sherrill had shrunk, still
more definitely and consciously, after that, from prying into the
affairs of his friend; he had now, strangely, almost withdrawn himself
from the inquiry, and had given it over to Alan.

Sherrill had spoken of the possibility that something might have
"happened" to Covert; but it was plain he did not believe he had met
with actual violence. He had left it to Alan to examine Corvet's
house; but he had not urged Alan to examine it at once; he had left the
time of the examination to be determined by Alan. This showed clearly
that Sherrill believed--perhaps had sufficient reason for
believing--that Corvet had simply "gone away." The second of Alan's
two facts related even more closely and personally to Alan himself.
Corvet, Sherrill had said, had married in 1889. But Sherrill in long
knowledge of his friend, had shown firm conviction that there had been
no mere vulgar liaison in Corvet's life. Did this mean that there
might have been some previous marriage of Alan's father--some marriage
which had strangely overlapped and nullified his public marriage? In
that case, Alan could be, not only in fact but legally, Corvet's son;
and such things as this, Alan knew, had sometimes happened, and had
happened by a strange combination of events, innocently for all
parties. Corvet's public separation from his wife, Sherrill had said,
had taken place in 1897,