After a broad stare
of astonishment on her introduction to "Dr. Arkroyd," she took very
little notice of Mary; only to Mr. Naylor was she clumsily civil and
even rather cringing; it was clear that in him she acknowledged the
gentleman. He sat by her, and she tried to insinuate herself into a
private conversation with him, apart from the others, probing him as to
his knowledge of the dead man and his mode of living. Her questions
hovered persistently round the point of Mr. Saffron's expenditure.
"Mr. Saffron was not a friend of mine," Naylor found it necessary to
explain. "I had few opportunities of observing his way of life, even if I
had felt any wish to do so."
"I suppose Beaumaroy knew all about his affairs," she suggested.
"As to that, I think you must ask Mr. Beaumaroy himself."
"From what the lawyers say, the old man seems to have been getting rid of
his money, somehow or to somebody," she grumbled, in a positive whisper.
To Mr. Naylor's intense relief, Beaumaroy interrupted this conversation.
"Well, how do you like this little place, Mrs.
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