Chapter TwelveThomas Enderby was exactly like an old grey mouse, except that a mouse’s eyes are bright and dark, and his were veiled and of no colour at all.
There was an interchange of courtesies reminding Rachel of an old lady she had known as a child who was wont to say with an approving nod of her head, ‘Compliments pass when gentlefolk meet.’
The compliments having passed, Mr Brandon said something in a low voice, from which Rachel inferred that their visit had not been without preliminaries. With a bow Mr Enderby disappeared through a door in the back of the shop, returning immediately with a square of black velvet which he laid before Miss Treherne. He then disappeared again, and this time for longer.
As she sat waiting, Rachel was aware of the romantic atmosphere. This old house
