He was summoned to breakfast in ten minutes. His mother was alone in
the kitchen; she gave him his bloater and his cup of coffee, and he
cut himself a solid slice of bread and butter.
'Was the letter for you?' she asked.
He replied with a nod, and fell patiently to work on the dissection
of his bony delicacy. In five minutes Henry approached the table
with a furtive glance at his elder brother. But Richard had no
remark to make. The meal proceeded in silence.
When Richard had finished, he rose and said to his mother--
'Have you that railway-guide I brought home a week ago?'
'I believe I have somewhere. Just look in the cupboard.'
The guide was found. Richard consulted it for a few moments.
'I have to go out of London,' he then observed. 'It's just possible
I shan't get back to-night.'
A little talk followed about the arrangements of the day, and
whether anyone was likely to be at home for dinner. Richard did not
show much interest in the matter; he went upstairs whistling, and
changed the clothing he wore for his best suit. In a quarter of an
hour he had left the house.
He did not return till the evening of the following day. It was
presumed that he had gone 'after a job.'
When he reached home his mother and Alice were at tea. He walked to
the kitchen fireplace, turned his back to it, and gazed with a
peculiar expression at the two who sat at table.
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