The captain caught her, with a cry of alarm.
The door opened, and the footman appeared.
"Did you ring, ma'am? Mr. Thaxton has arrived."
She drew herself upright from the captain's arms, and, pushing her hair from her white forehead, said, with unnatural calm:
There entered a short, wiry, old gentleman, with a pleasant, but shrewd, face, crowned by smoothly parted white hair.
It was Mr. Thaxton, the lawyer. He looked from one to the other, with inquiring and acute attention.
Mrs. Mildmay came forward, and held out her hand.
"Oh, Mr. Thaxton," she exclaimed, with agitated earnestness, "I am so glad you have come!"
"So am I, if I am needed," said Mr. Thaxton, bowing over her hand and glancing at the captain.
The captain bowed, but, as he was pouring some eau de cologne upon Violet's handkerchief, he could not shake hands.
"Something dreadful has happened," continued Mrs. Mildmay, hurriedly; "we have only just heard of it; we did not know that Violet was in the room, and--and--oh, dear, oh, dear!"
And the simple, good-hearted lady burst into tears.
"Do not cry, aunt," she said. "Mr. Thaxton, I am glad you have come; some terrible accident has happened."
Then she turned to the captain, and, with a gesture almost of command, said:
"Wait a while," he said. "You distress yourself, Miss Violet, perhaps without adequate cause. What has happened? Come, come!"
And the old man patted her hand, soothingly, though nothing of his acuteness abated.
Then he led Violet to a seat, and himself drew a little apart, with the captain, who had all this time been, so to speak, measuring his man.
"What has happened?" asked Mr. Thaxton. "Nothing nearly concerning the family, I hope?"
"N--o," said the captain, gravely, and then he placed Mr. Thaxton in possession of the facts which were generally known.
A body had been found at the foot of the cliff.
The corpse had been identified as the body of the captain's late valet, Jem Starling.
That hat belonged to one Leicester Dodson.
At the name, Mr. Thaxton's sharp eyes shot a swift glance at Violet.
Mr. Thaxton nodded once or twice, thoughtfully.
"Lying at the coastguard station," replied the captain.
"I think," said Mr. Thaxton, "that I should like to walk up there."
"You will take some refreshment first?" said Mrs. Mildmay.