Hester had no doubt that he had taken this watch as a matter of course away with him.

She felt sure that he would not part with this relic of his dead father on any slight necessity.
Where, then, was Philip ?--by what chance of life or death had this, his valued property, found its way once more to Monkshaven?
'Where did yo' get this ?' she asked, in as quiet a manner as she could assume, sick with eagerness as she was.
To no one else would Darley have answered such a question.

He made a mystery of most of his dealings; not that he had anything to conceal, but simply because he delighted in concealment.

He took it out of her hands, looked at the number marked inside, and the maker's name--'Natteau Gent, York'-- and then replied,-- 'A man brought it me yesterday, at nightfall, for t' sell it.

It's a matter o' forty years old.