Tadman.
After this the stranger sat for some time, drinking cold
brandy-and-water, and staring moodily at the fire, without making the
faintest attempt at conversation, while Mr. Whitelaw finished his tea,
and the table was cleared; and even after this, when the farmer had taken
his place upon the opposite side of the hearth, and seemed to be waiting
for his guest to begin business.
He was not a lively stranger; he seemed, indeed, to have something on his
mind, to be brooding upon some trouble or difficulty, as Mrs. Tadman
remarked to her kinsman's wife afterwards. Both the women watched him;
Ellen always perplexed by that unknown likeness, which seemed sometimes
to grow stronger, sometimes to fade away altogether, as she looked at
him; Mrs. Tadman in a rabid state of curiosity, so profound was the
mystery of his silent presence.
What was he there for? What could Stephen want with him? He was not one
of Stephen's sort, by any means; had no appearance of association with
agricultural interests. And yet there he was, a silent inexplicable
presence, a mysterious figure with a moody brow, which seemed to grow
darker as Mrs. Tadman watched him.
At last, about an hour after the tea-table had been cleared, he rose
suddenly, with an abrupt gesture, and said,
"Come, Whitelaw, if you mean to show me this house of yours, you may as
well show it to me at once.
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