The calmness of the lawyer's reply was in marked contrast.
"Is this merely an assertion, Mr.Turold ?" "It is more than an assertion.

I can prove it to you." Mr.Brimsdown was startled.

"What do you mean by that ?" he asked.
"If you will come to Flint House I will show you." Mr.Brimsdown stroked the cautious chin of an old man plunged into a situation which he could not fathom.

"Would it not be better to consult the police first ?" he temporized.
"The police are now searching the country for Sisily, and there is no time to be lost." There was something so profoundly unhappy in his appearance that pity stirred in the lawyer's heart.

"Very well," he said, with another look at the lowering sky, "let us go." That afternoon remained with the lawyer as another unforgettable memory.
It was all of a piece, sombre, yet of a sharp-edged vividness: the desolation of the moors, the sting of the rain, the clamour of the sea, the seabirds soaring slowly with harsh cries.