The Four Faces

Description

CHAPTER I



CURIOSITY IS AROUSED



“I confess I’d like to know somethin’ more about him.”

“Where did you run across him first?”

“I didn’t run across him; he ran across me, and in rather a curious way. We live in Linden Gardens now, you know. Several of the houses there are almost exactly alike, and about a month ago, at a dinner party we were givin’, a young man was shown in. His name was unknown to me, so I supposed that he must be some friend of my wife’s. Then I saw that he was a stranger to her too, and then all at once he became very confused, inquired if he were in Sir Harry Dawson’s house-Sir Harry lives in the house next to ours-and, findin’ he was not, apologized profusely for his mistake, and left hurriedly.”

“Anyone might make a mistake of that kind in some London houses,” the second speaker said. “What is he like? Is he a gentleman?”

“Oh, quite.”

“And for how long have you leased him your house in Cumberland Place?”

“Seven years, with option of renewal.”

“And you mean to say you know nothing about him?”

“I won’t say ‘nothin’,’ but I know comparatively little about him. Houston and Prince, the house agents, assure me they’ve made inquiries, and that he is a rich young man whose uncle amassed a large fortune in Tasmania-I didn’t know fortunes were to be made in Tasmania, did you? The uncle died six months ago, Houston and Prince tell me, and Hugesson Gastrell has inherited everything he left. They say that they have ascertained that Gastrell’s parents died when he was quite a child, and that this uncle who has died has been his guardian ever since.”

“That sounds right enough. What more do you want to know?”

“It somehow seems to me very strange that I should have come to know this man, Gastrell, without introduction of any kind-even have become intimate with him.
[amz_corss_sell asin=”1776745809”]