She won't trust me with it,
you see!--her own daughter! What business can that man have with
her?--or she with him? Eldrick & Pascoe are not our solicitors! There's
some secret and----"
"Will you answer one or two questions?" said Collingwood quietly. He had
never seen Nesta angry before, and he now realized that she had certain
possibilities of temper and determination which would be formidable when
roused. "First of all, is that maid you speak of, Esther Mawson,
reliable?"
"I don't know!" answered Nesta. "My mother has had her two years--she's
a Barford woman. Sometimes I think she's sly and cunning. But I've given
her such strict orders now that she'll never dare to let any one see my
mother again without my consent."
"The other question's this," said Collingwood. "Have you any idea, any
suspicion of why Pratt wanted to see your mother?"
"Not unless it was about that stewardship," replied Nesta. "But--how
could that frighten her? Besides, all that's over. Normandale is
mine!--and if I have a steward, or an estate agent, I shall see to the
appointment myself. No!--I do not know why he should have come here!
But--there's some mystery. The curious thing is----"
"What?" asked Collingwood, as she paused.
"Why," she said, shaking her head wonderingly, "that I'm absolutely
certain that my mother never even knew this man Pratt--I don't I think
she even knew his name--until quite recently.
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