ef interchange of remarks with the
half-insolent tradesman: an idea which he had been careful not to
mention to Peppermore. Krevin Crood, said Peppermore, was mainly
dependent on his pension of three pounds a week from the borough
authorities--a pension which, of course, was terminable at the pleasure
of those authorities; Wallingford had let it be known, plainly and
unmistakably, that he was going to advocate the discontinuance of these
drains on the town's resources: Krevin Crood, accordingly, would be one
of the first to suffer if Wallingford got his way, as he was likely to
do. And Peppermore had said further that Krevin Crood knew all about the
antiquities of Hathelsborough--knew so much, indeed, that he acted as
cicerone to people who wanted to explore the Castle, and the church, and
the Moot Hall. Now, supposing that Krevin Crood, with his profound
knowledge of the older parts of the town, knew of some mysterious and
secret way into the Mayor's Parlour, and had laid in wait there,
resolved on killing the man who was threatening by his reforming actions
to deprive him of his pension? It was not an impossible theory. And
others branched out of it. It was already evident to Brent that Simon
Crood, big man though he was in the affairs of the borough, was a
schemer and a contriver of mole's work: supposing that he and his gang
had employed Krevin Crood as their emissary? That, too, was possible.
Underground work! There was underground work all round.

Then, thinking of Alderman Crood, he remembered Alderman Crood's niece;
her request to him; his promise to her. He had been puzzled, not a
little taken aback by the girl's eager, anxious manner. She had been
quiet and demure enough as she sat by Simon Crood's fire, sewing, in
silence, a veritable modest mouse, timid and bashful; but in that big,
gloomy hall her attitude had changed altogether--she had been almost
compelling in her eagerness. And Brent had wondered ever since, at
intervals, whatever it could be that she wanted with him--a stranger?
But it was near three o'clock now, and instead of indulging in further
surmise, he went off to meet her.

Hathelsborough Castle, once one of the most notable fortresses of the
North, still remained in an excellent state of preservation. Its great
Norman keep formed a landmark that could be seen over many a mile of the
surrounding country; many of its smaller towers were still intact, and
its curtain walls, barbican and ancient