It was quite within the bounds of possibility that Stormont was not amongst the high spirits of the financial world, that his activities inclined a little to the shady side of the profession. But if that were so, would he have had the hardihood to buy Effington, and run the gauntlet of the respectable people of the neighbourhood? On the Sunday morning Stormont absented himself from church, contrary to his usual custom. Mr. Whitehouse remained at home to keep him company. All the others went as they had done on the previous occasion. Lydon had a shrewd suspicion that the two men wanted to be alone to discuss business affairs. Evidently matters were settled during the morning, for the two men did not shut themselves up again during the rest of the day. Whitehouse might possibly be an excellent man of business, but he was not a lively or inspiring person. Grave and taciturn to a degree, he spoke very little, and only when addressed directly by his host or some other member of the party. He did not volunteer conversation. From a few hints dropped by Gloria, Leonard gathered that the women rather disliked him, and looked upon him as a wet blanket. In reply to further questioning, Miss Stormont said that he used to be a frequent visitor to Curzon Street; but since they had taken up their residence at Effington, he came somewhat infrequently, not more than three or four times in the year, and then only for a stay of a day or two. She understood that he and her uncle had been connected in business for many years and that they had a very great regard for each other. Whitehouse left directly after breakfast on the Monday morning, and Lydon hailed his departure with pleasure. There was something rather repellent about the man, with his taciturnity, his unsmiling gravity, his deep-set eyes and sombre gaze. For himself, he accepted Stormont’s cordial invitation to stay another day, during which he enjoyed the society of the charming Gloria to the full. He had expected that his host would accompany him to town on the Tuesday morning, but Stormont announced that, as the weather was so fine, he had made up his mind to take a week’s holiday. Lydon thought it must be a very accommodating business that allowed him so much leisure, more especially in view of the fact, inadvertently dropped by Gloria, that he was in a certain sense living from hand to mouth, at any rate spending money as fast as he made it. Mrs. Barnard said good-bye to him in the dining-room after breakfast. Stormont and his niece went with him into the hall. When he had shaken hands with them, rather a lingering process in the case of Gloria, Stormont detained him with a gesture, and went out to tell the chauffeur to drive down to the lodge gates and await them there. “Just a word with you, my boy, before you go,” he said, linking his arm in that of the young man and conducting him slowly down the avenue, leaving a rather surprised Gloria behind.