"Yes, into
Essex," she said demurely.
"They have all gone into the country now, haven't they? How fortunate it
was that Miss Merivale heard me mention you, Miss Sampson! She noticed the
name at once. It is quite certain, isn't it, that you are related to her
through her sister's marriage?"
"Miss Merivale insists on thinking so," said Rhoda quietly. "But I cannot
be sure of it."
"Don't you remember your own people at all? I can feel for you, if that is
so. My father and mother died while I was a baby. Can you remember your
mother? I wish I could."
"No, I cannot remember her."
"And your father?"
"Just a little."
Rhoda's cold, brief replies checked Pauline. She did not find it so easy
to pump Rhoda as she had expected. She put the photograph down, and got up
with a yawn. "I am keeping you up," she said. "May I have the matches?
Thank you. Good-night." She gave Rhoda one of her most charming smiles as
she spoke; but Rhoda's good-night was studiously cold. She had no desire
to accept the olive branch Pauline was holding out to her.
CHAPTER X.
A CONFESSION.
The more Pauline thought of it the more she felt convinced that she had
solved the mystery of Miss Merivale's sudden interest in Rhoda. And she
spent a long time in considering what was the best use she could make of
her discovery.
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