“Oh, no, ma’am, not Mr. Lomax.” Chilvers’ tone was faintly reproachful. “A person⁠—I was reluctant to let him in, but he said his business was most important⁠—connected with the late Captain, I understood him to say. Thinking therefore that you might wish to see him, I put him⁠—er⁠—in the study.”

Virginia stood thinking for a minute. She had been a widow now for some years, and the fact that she rarely spoke of her husband was taken by some to indicate that below her careless demeanour was a still aching wound. By others it was taken to mean the exact opposite, that Virginia had never really cared for Tim Revel, and that she found it insincere to profess a grief she did not feel.

“I should have mentioned, ma’am,” continued Chilvers, “that the man appears to be some kind of foreigner.”