'Shall we go out for a little walk? Come, lock up these papers,
dear, and get your things on; and if that Dr. Bryerly does not turn up
to-morrow, you must send for the Rector, good Doctor Clay, and let him make
search for the will--there may be directions about many things, you know;
and, my dear Maud, you are to remember that Silas is _my_ cousin as well as
your uncle. Come, dear, put on your hat.'
So we went out together for a little cloistered walk.
CHAPTER XXII
_SOMEBODY IN THE ROOM WITH THE COFFIN_
When we returned, a 'young' gentleman had arrived. We saw him in the
parlour as we passed the window. It was simply a glance, but such a one
as suffices to make a photograph, which we can study afterwards, at our
leisure. I remember him at this moment--a man of six-and-thirty--dressed in
a grey travelling suit, not over-well made; light-haired, fat-faced,
and clumsy; and he looked both dull and cunning, and not at all like a
gentleman.
Branston met us, announced the arrival, and handed me the stranger's
credentials. My cousin and I stopped in the passage to read them.
'_That's_ your uncle Silas's,' said Lady Knollys, touching one of the two
letters with the tip of her finger.
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