rribly. Her eyes were fixed upon
Dominey curiously.

"Those are brave words," she said. "You've come back a harder man. Let
me look at you."

She moved a foot or two to where the light was better. Very slowly
a frown developed upon her forehead. The longer she looked, the less
assured she became.

"There are things in your face I miss," she muttered.

Mr. Mangan was glad of an opportunity of asserting himself.

"The fact is scarcely important, Mrs. Unthank," he said angrily. "If you
will allow me to give you a word of advice, you will treat your master
with the respect to which his position here entitles him."

Once more the woman blazed up.

"Respect! What respect have I for the murderer of my son? Respect! Well,
if he stays here against my bidding, perhaps her ladyship will show him
what respect means."

She turned around and disappeared. Every one began bustling about the
luggage and talking at once. Mr. Mangan took his patron's arm and led
him across the hall.

"My dear Sir Everard," he said anxiously, "I am most distressed that
this should have occurred. I thought that the woman would probably
be sullen, but I had no idea that she would dare to attempt such an
outrageous proceeding."

"She is still, I presume, the only companion whom Lady Dominey will
tolerate?" Dominey enquired with a sigh.

"I fear so," the lawyer admitted. "Nevertheless we must see Doctor
Harrison in the morning. It must be understood distinctly that if she is
suffered to remain, she adopts an entirely different attitude. I never
heard anything so preposterous in all my life. I shall pay her a visit
myself after dinner.--You will feel quite at home here in the library,
Sir Everard," Mr. Mangan went on, throwing open the door of a very
fine apartment on the seaward side of the house. "Grand view from these
windows, especially since we've had a few of the trees cut down. I
see that Parkins has set out the sherry. Cocktails, I'm afraid, are an
institution you will have to inaugurate down here. You'll be grateful to
me when I tell you one thing, Sir Everard. We've been hard pressed
more than once, but we haven't sold a single bottle of wine out of the
cellars."

Dominey accepted the glass of sherry which the lawyer had poured out
but made no movement towards drinking it. He seemed during the last few
minutes to have been wrapped in a brown study.

"Mangan," he asked a little abruptly, "is it the popular belief down
here that I kill