Moreover, when the Squire turned huffily away, taking his cousin with him, Copplestone had noticed that there was evidently a smart passage of words between them after leaving the little group on the quay, and they had parted unceremoniously, the man turning on his heel up a side path into his own grounds and the girl going forward with a sudden acceleration of pace.

All this made Copplestone draw a conclusion.
"There's no great love lost between the gentleman at the big house and his lady relatives in the little cottage," he mused.

"Also, around the gentleman there appears to be some cloud of mystery.

What ?--and has it anything to do with the Oliver mystery ?" He went back to the inn and made his arrangements with its landlady, who by that time was full to overflowing with interest and amazement at the strange affair which had brought her this guest.

But Mrs.Wooler had eyes as well as ears, and noticing that Copplestone was already looking weary and harassed, she hastened to provide a hot dinner for him, and to recommend a certain claret which in her opinion possessed remarkable revivifying qualities.