CHAPTER XLIV.
TOO MUCH FOR DOVE.
Mrs.Dredge's remarks had by no means been lost on Noel.

When he left Miss Egerton's house he consulted his watch, and found that he had still an hour to spare before he need try to catch his train.

He thought for a moment or two, recalled certain expressions on Daisy's face, certain words which dropped from her lips, and, above all, a look which had filled her pretty eyes on the one and only occasion when they had met Dove together.
Noel began to feel more and more certain that this man, to whom he had taken a great dislike, had something to say to all the child's misery.
Noel knew, however, that suspicion in such a case would be of little avail--he must have certainty, and certainty could only be his by cautious and wary movements.
Again he consulted his watch, and now he determined on a bold course.
He remembered that the girls had once told him that Dove was a painter by trade, but that he seldom or never had anything to do.

Noel was extremely fastidious, and, if possible, almost over-refined in the arrangements of his own home.

He made his little plan with a sigh, but he would have done more than this for the sake of pretty little Daisy.
Walking quickly, he soon found himself at the Doves' address in Eden Street.