“She did not protest or cry out?” the Marquis insisted.
“No, Guv, strike me dead if I ain’t tellin’ you the truth!” the small man said, worried now by the harshness of the Marquis’s voice and the frown between his eyes.
“’Er runs across the pavement and gets into the carriage as if she were as eager to be off as ’e were.”
“She did not speak to him?” the Marquis enquired after a moment’s pause.
“Take me dyin’ oath, my Lord.”
It seemed as though the Marquis was turned to stone.
The men sitting at the table watching him realised that something gravely untoward had happened and were also silent.
And then, as if he realised that he must do something to relieve the tension, Jeb said hesitantly,
“’Er did say somethin’, Guv.”
“What was it?”
“It weren’t to ’im, it were to the old female w
