Page:Fletcher - The Mortover Grange Affair.pdf/260

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THE MORTOVER GRANGE AFFAIR

"Well?" asked Nottidge. "Go on!"

"Miss Monniment came to me and said they'd been to meet Mr. Levigne's niece, and they'd brought her to stay the night, and I was to get a room ready at once. There wasn't any difficulty about that, because Mr. Levigne sometimes had gentlemen to stay there for a day or two, so we always had a room that wanted little done to it. And of course the young lady stayed.

"Did you see her!" asked Wedgwood.

"Why, of course! I saw her that night, and again in the morning."

"Did she seem willing to be there?"

"She seemed quite at home, as far as I could see. I heard her laughing and talking quite freely with Miss Monniment and Mr. Levigne."

"And you say they brought her home for the night? Do you mean that she was only there one night?"

"Only that one night! Next morning she and Miss Monniment and Mr. Levigne all had breakfast together. Then Mr. Levigne went off—to his business, I suppose. About noon Miss Monniment came to me and said that she was going away for a few days and told me to call a taxi-cab. She and the young lady went off in it. The young lady hadn't any luggage, but Miss Monniment took two suit-