Ruth rose to her feet, and a smile of relief dispelled her tears. "Oh, how delighted I am!" she said, excitedly. "I shan't worry any more. Oh, how thankful I am! What a weight is off my mind! But why didn't he tell me before?" "He had his reasons--reasons, which he has explained to me. They need not trouble you, my dear. I think you had better put the whole affair out of your mind." "I will, now that papa is free from the stigma; he does not know that I thought he was seriously mixed up in the case. He would never forgive me if he did! Don't ever tell him, Geoffrey." "No, I won't. Now, don't worry any more." "But, Geoffrey, if Mrs. Jenner is not guilty, who is?" "Ah, we must find that out," replied Heron, thinking it best not to reveal anything about Mr. Marshall--an explanation which would only have caused fresh trouble. "If you are wise, Ruth, you will leave the matter alone." "I intend to," she said. "But there is one thing I want to tell you, Geoffrey--Job Lovel." "Who is he?" "The gypsy. Didn't I tell you about him?" "Yes; I think you did say something about having met him at the Turnpike House. Well, what has he been doing?" "Nothing, except that he has taken up his abode at the Turnpike House." "Like his impudence!" cried the young man. "Why, that house is mine, and if he wanted to live in the wretched hovel, he should have come to me. Besides, I do not wish anyone to live in that shamble. I intend to have it pulled down, and so get rid of all the legends which haunt the neighbourhood." "I wish you would pull it down; it is an ill-omened place--a blot on the landscape; and the sooner it is removed the better it will be for the countryside. The people round here think it is haunted, you know, and that keeps up the memory of the murder. If the house were pulled down, there would be an end of it all--and the sooner the better. But I do not know what Aunt Inez will say!" "Mrs. Marshall?" cried Geoffrey, looking at her sharply. "What has she got to do with it?" "That is what I want to tell you, it seems that Aunt Inez has taken an interest in Job; she suggested that he should patch up the house and live in it; and she has arranged to allow him so much a week to live on." "Humph! That is strange. Mrs. Marshall is not usually so philanthropic." "That's exactly what I thought; and that made me think that papa had something to do with the murder, and that Aunt Inez was shielding him." "Shielding him--how?" "By assisting Job. I went to see him the other day, and I found Aunt Inez there; she was very angry with me for having gone. I saw Job afterwards, and he would tell me nothing, but he hinted at a secret between him and Aunt Inez; now I think----" "Don't think anything about it," Heron said, with a forced laugh. "Your aunt is getting charitable in her old age. Believe me, there is nothing between her and the gypsy, relative to the murder, whatever he may say." "But he talked, Geoffrey----"