He is rather close about his own affairs, and never talks about his travels and adventures, although one day Mr.Leithcourt declared that his hairbreadth escapes would make a most exciting book if ever written." "Leithcourt and he are evidently most intimate friends." "Oh, quite inseparable!" she laughed.

"And the other man who is always with them is that short, stout, red-faced old fellow standing over there with the lady in pale blue, Sir Ughtred Gardner.

Mr.Woodroffe has nicknamed him 'Sir Putrid.'" And we both laughed.

"Of course, don't say I said so," she whispered.

"They don't call him that to his face, but it's so easy to make a mistake in his name when he's not within hearing.
We women don't care for him, so the nickname just fits." And she gossiped on, telling me much that I desired to know regarding the new tenant of Rannoch and his friends, and more especially of that man who had first introduced himself to me in the Consulate at Leghorn.
Half an hour later my uncle's carriage was announced, and I left with the distinct impression that there was some deep mystery surrounding the Leithcourts.