But the rumour about the neighbourhood was that there had been a serious quarrel between Langford and his master, that he was known to have been under notice to leave his situation, and that it was in a scuffle between master and man that Langford came by his death. Rhoda sprang up with a cry. “It’s not true!” she cried. “Sir Robert is incapable of such a thing! Besides, I know! I can prove--Oh let me go and tell what I know!” But the next moment the light faded out of her eyes and she sank back, trembling. What did she know? What could she prove? Nothing, nothing. CHAPTER III. TEN YEARS AFTER Ten years passed before Rhoda Pembury saw Sir Robert Hadlow or the old Mill-house again, and during those ten years all that she heard of him or of his doings was through an announcement in the newspapers, some six months after her stay there, of his marriage with Sarah, third daughter of the Marquis of Eridge. After that, although Rhoda did, from time to time, see brief paragraphs in the papers concerning the doings of Lady Sarah Hadlow, and incidental mention in connection with her, of her husband, Sir Robert, she held no communication with them, or with any of the household at the Dourville Mill-house, and she believed, during the whole of that period, that the baronet who had saved her life and who had been kind to her, had passed out of her life for ever. In the meantime, having developed into a beautiful and accomplished woman from the half-fledged girl she had been then, Rhoda received a good deal of attention and more than one offer of marriage. But she cared little for admiration, and her heart was never touched. Greatly to the annoyance of her parents, who had a large family, and who were both eager to settle their handsome daughter in marriage and a home of her own, Rhoda made light of all the attentions paid to her, refused her lovers without compunction, and announced, when reproached with her coldness and obstinacy, that she intended to remain single through life, and that, as her parents would never be able to get her off their hands in the way they desired, she would meet their wishes by earning her own living. This was not at all what they wanted, and her mother prevailed upon Rhoda to give way on this point for a time. But the thought was ever in the girl’s mind, and Mrs. Pembury was not surprised when, ten years after the episode at the Mill-house, Rhoda came to her with a newspaper in her hand, and, pointing to an advertisement in one of the columns, said briefly: “Mother, I’m going to answer this.” The announcement to which she pointed ran like this: “A lady wanted, as nurse-companion to an invalid boy. Apply personally, if possible, at the Old Mill-house, Dourville.” Mrs. Pembury having put on her glasses, read the advertisement, and laid down the paper with an exclamation of something like dismay. “Why, it’s Sir Robert Hadlow’s, where the murder was committed! Surely you wouldn’t go back there!”