"
"Yes," agreed Ella. "Yes, he was. I think Mr. Clive was a little
vexed, though he took no notice, I suppose he couldn't very well."
"I don't like the man at all," Mrs. Dawson repeated. "All that
hair, too. Do you like him?"
"I don't know," Ella answered, and after she and her mother had
returned from their walk she took occasion to find Dunn in the
garden and ask him some trifling question or another.
"You are interested in chess?" she remarked, when he had answered
her.
"All problems are interesting till one finds the answer to them,"
he replied.
"There's one I know of," she retorted. "I wish you would solve
for me."
"Tell me what it is," he said quickly. "Will you?"
She shook her head slightly, but she was watching him very intently
from her clear, candid eyes, and now, as always, her nearness to
him, the infinite appeal he found in her every look and movement,
the very fragrance of her hair, bore him away beyond all purpose
and intention.
"Tell me what it is," he said again. "Won't you? Miss Cayley, if
you and I were to trust each other--it's not difficult to see
there's something troubling you."
"Most people have some trouble or another," she answered evasively.
He came a little nearer to her, and instead of the gruff, harsh
tones he habitually used, his voice was singularly pleasant and low
as he said:
"People who are in trouble need help, Miss Cayley.
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