Cave-Grays that I've known were big men--colour, were alike. Of course,
Mr. Ashton had a beard, slightly grey, but he was a grey-haired man. All
the family had crown hair; the present Lord Ellingham is crown-haired.
And Mr. Ashton had grey eyes--every Cave-Gray that I remember was
grey-eyed. I should say that Mr. Ashton was just what I should have
expected Lord Marketstoke to be at sixty."

"I suppose Ashton never said or did anything here to reveal his secret,
if he had one?" asked Mr. Pawle, after a moment's thoughtful pause.

"Oh, nothing!" replied Mrs. Summers. "He occupied himself, as I tell you,
while he was here, and finally he went away in the car in which he had
come, saying that he had greatly enjoyed his stay, and that we should see
him again sometime. No--he never said anything about himself, that is.
But he asked me several questions; I used to talk to him sometimes, of an
evening, about the present Lord Ellingham."

"What sort of questions?" inquired Mr. Pawle.

"Oh--as to what sort of young man he was, and if he was a good landlord
and so on," replied Mrs. Summers. "And I purposely told him about the
disappearance of thirty-five years ago, just to see what he would say
about it."

"Ah! And what did he say?" asked Mr. Pawle.

"Nothing--except that it was extraordinary how people could disappear in
this world," said Mrs. Summers. "Whether he was interested or not, he
didn't show it."