sooner or later. Do you know of any one else whom she may have liked
better than me--any one whose influence may have governed her at the time
she left Lidford?"

"No, indeed, sir," replied the woman, promptly. "Who else was there? Miss
Nowell knew so few gentlemen, and saw no one except the Rector's family
and two or three ladies after the uncle's death."

"Not at the cottage, perhaps. But she may have seen some one
out-of-doors. You say she always went out alone at that time, and
preferred to do so."

"Yes, sir, that is true. But it seemed natural enough that she should
like to be alone on account of her grief."

"There must have been some reason for her silence towards me, Sarah. She
could not have acted so cruelly without some powerful motive. Heaven only
knows what it may have been. The business of my life will be to find
her--to see her face to face once more, and hear the explanation of her
conduct from her own lips."

He thanked the woman for her information, slipped a sovereign into her
hand, and departed. He called upon the proprietor of Hazel Cottage, an
auctioneer, surveyor, and house-agent in the High-street of Fairleigh,
but could obtain no fresh tidings from this gentleman, except the fact
that the money realised by the Captain's furniture had been sent to Miss
Nowell at a post-office in the City, and had been duly acknowledged by
her, after a delay of about a week. The auctioneer showed Gilbert the
letter of receipt, which was worded in a very formal business-like
manner, and bore no address but "London." The sight of the familiar hand