ious seemed to be but half comprehended by this
man. But I comprehended it to the full, and wondered if it was on
account of such gossip as this that Mr. Gryce had persuaded me to enter
Miss Knollys' house as a guest.

I was crossing the street to the hotel as I indulged in these
conjectures, and intent as my mind was upon them, I could not but note
the curiosity and interest which my presence excited in the simple
country folk invariably to be found lounging about a country tavern.
Indeed, the whole neighborhood seemed agog, and though I would have
thought it derogatory to my dignity to notice the fact, I could not but
see how many faces were peering at me from store doors and the
half-closed blinds of adjoining cottages. No young girl in the pride of
her beauty could have awakened more interest, and this I attributed, as
was no doubt right, not to my appearance, which would not perhaps be apt
to strike these simple villagers as remarkable, or to my dress, which is
rather rich than fashionable, but to the fact that I was a stranger in
town, and, what was more extraordinary, a guest of the Misses Knollys.

My intention in approaching the hotel was not to spend a couple of
dreary hours in the parlor with Mrs. Carter, as Mr. Simsbury had
suggested, but to obtain if possible a conveyance to carry me
immediately back to the Knollys mansion. But this, which would have been
a simple matter in most towns, seemed well-nigh an impossibility in X.
The landlord was away, and Mrs. Carter, who was very frank with me, told
me it would be perfectly useless to ask one of the men to drive me
through the lane. "It's an unwholesome spot," said she, "and only Mr.
Carter and the police have the courage to brave it."

I suggested that I was willing to pay well, but it seemed to make very
little difference to her. "Money won't hire them," said she, and I had
the satisfaction of knowing that Lucetta had triumphed in her plan, and
that, after all, I must sit out the morning in the precincts of the
hotel parlor with Mrs. Carter.

It was my first signal defeat, but I was determined to make the best of
it, and if possible glean such knowledge from the talk of this woman as
would make me feel that I had lost nothing by my disappointment. She was
only too ready to talk, and the first topic was little Rob.

I saw the moment I mentioned his name that I was introducing a subject
which had already been well talked over by every eager gossip in the