"And the matters you speak of might have been stolen.

But let Mrs.Ralston give us her reasons for suspecting this man--she has some strong ones, I'll be bound." Mr.Portlethorpe showed signs of irritation, but Mrs.Ralston promptly took up Mr.Lindsey's challenge.
"Sufficiently strong to have made me very uneasy of late, at any rate," she answered.

She turned to Mr.Portlethorpe.

"You remember," she went on, "that my first meeting with this man, when he came to claim the title and estates, was at your office in Newcastle, a few days after he first presented himself to you.

He said then that he had not yet been down to Hathercleugh; but I have since found out that he had--or, rather, that he had been in the neighbourhood, incognito.