"
"With her alone?" I asked.
"Yes," said he. "Mrs. Raynor is a great reader and fond of naps, and I
think that the young lady was rather tired of the companionship of her
uncle and the other gentleman, who were very much given to smoking, and
was glad of the novelty of a new acquaintance. On my part, I felt it my
duty to talk to her as much as possible, that I might faithfully report
to you all that she said, and thus give you an idea of the state of her
mind."
"Humph!" I exclaimed; "but what did she say?"
"Of course," continued Walkirk, "a great deal of our conversation was
desultory and of no importance, but I endeavored, as circumspectly as I
could, so to turn the conversation that she might say something which it
would be worth while to report to you."
"Now, Walkirk," said I, "if I had known you were doing a thing of that
sort, I should not have approved of it. But did she say anything that in
any way referred to me?"
"Yes, she did," he answered, "and this is the way it came about.
Something--I think it was the heat of the windless day--caused her to
refer to the oppressive costume of the sisters of the House of Martha,
and she then remarked that she supposed I knew she was one of that
sisterhood.
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