“The presence of this gentleman, who is a doctor, made me wonder – but, of course, I recall now: Dr Watson is your friend, the author of the account my father read to me. But I wondered, because Miss Rogerson has often said she will have me declared insane and put away if I do not mend my ways.”

Holmes frowned slightly. “And who is Miss Rogerson?” he asked.

“A lady who has come to run the household since Aunt Margaret left. It was she who brought me here this morning.”

“We saw her on the pavement outside,” said Holmes in a kindly voice. “Does she always speak to you in so stern a fashion?”

The girl’s face flushed a deep crimson.

“No, not always so,” she replied at length, “but she was angry with me.”

“Why?”

“Because I had tried to alight from the carriage quickly, before she had given me permission to do so.”

“Your mind was perhaps on other things?”

“It was not that. May I speak freely to you?”

“Certainly.”

“I mean, you will not scold me or think me wicked if I say whatever I wish?”

“No, Miss Borrow, we shall not. If you speak the truth you have nothing to be ashamed of and need fear no censure. I need hardly add that anything you tell us will pass no further, so nor need you hesitate on that account.”

“Thank you, Mr Holmes. I will tell you then why I wished to leave the carriage so quickly. It was because I knew that Miss Rogerson would not dare to slap or pinch me if we were on the pavement.”

Again a frown crossed Holmes’s face. “Do you know anything of Miss Rogerson’s antecedents?” he asked after a moment. “Her appearance seems scarcely that of a typical house keeper.”

“She is an old friend of Mr Hartley Lessingham’s. He knew her, I believe, before he married Aunt Margaret.”

“I see. When did she arrive to take up her new duties?”

“About ten days after Aunt Margaret left, in the middle of January.”

“Do you and your brother see much of her when you are at home?”

“At first we did not, but at the end of April our tutor, Mr Theakston, left us, and since that time Miss Rogerson has acted as our tutor, so that we usually see her for a little time every day of the week except Saturday and Sunday.”

Miss Borrow paused, and for a moment Holmes regarded her face in silence. Then he spoke.

“You wish,” said he, “to tell us that Miss Rogerson’s tutorship has not been an unqualified success, but you do not wish to appear rude or disloyal. Of course one should not, as a rule, malign people who are not present to defend themselves, but there are exceptions to every rule. We have come here today to hear your honest account of your troubles and difficulties. Please feel free to be as rude as you wish, provided only that you consider it justified: we shall think none the worse of you for it. Besides,” he added in a dry tone, “there are people to whom it is almost impossible to refer without appearing rude. Adults generally find a way of venting their feelings about such people; I do not see why such pleasure should be entirely denied to the more youthful members of society!”

A slight smile, as if of appreciation, passed over the girl’s features.

“I think that you perhaps remember your own youth more distinctly than do many adults, Mr Holmes,” she ventured.

“Well, well,” returned he in a dismissive voice. “Pray, proceed with your account!”

“Miss Rogerson,” said the other after a moment, “is a very stupid woman. She beats us for not knowing things, but she herself knows nothing. Once when Edwin asked her where India was, she could not find it on the wall map in the schoolroom, and I could see that she was looking for it among the Greek islands. Sometimes she uses French words, but it is only to appear superior, for she always pronounces them wrongly and does not really know what they mean.”

“Do you know why Mr Theakston left?”

Miss Borrow shook her head. “I was very sorry that he did,” she returned. “He left in a hurry, and did not even say goodbye to us, which was quite unlike him. He had been our only friend after Aunt Margaret’s departure, and had taught us such a lot. Since he left, Edwin’s education has almost ceased. But I think he may have been dismissed by Mr Hartley Lessingham, for I heard them exchanging sharp words upon the evening he left.”

“Did you hear what it was they were discussing?”

“Not very clearly. They were in the library downstairs, and I was sitting on the top of the stairs. But several times I heard them mention the mill at Dedstone.”

“A mill? That sounds an unlikely topic for your tutor and his employer to have words over. Hum! Let us leave this matter for the moment, if we may,” said Holmes. “Perhaps you could tell us first a little of your family’s history, and how you came to be in your present situation?”

“Very well,” said the girl. “Edwin and I were both born in India and have lived most of our lives there. We know no one in England. Our home was at Chalpur, which is where my father’s regiment was stationed. After he left the service, we stayed on in India for some years, for he was engaged in various business activities in connection with the jute trade. I remember that he remarked that it seemed the right trade for him to be in, as he had often heard that his ancestors were all Jutes. Until recently, then, we had never lived in England, except for two holiday visits with my mother. Then, two years ago, my father sold most of his interests in India, and we returned to England. By this time, so I understand, he was a very wealthy man. We took a large house in Brixton and lived happily there for a while.

“My mother’s sister, Aunt Margaret, who was some years younger than my mother, had married while we were in India, and my parents had thus been unable to attend the wedding. I remember the surprise on my mother’s face when she received the letter from Aunt Margaret informing her of the forthcoming marriage. ‘Would you believe it, George!’ said she to my father. ‘Margaret is to be married in two months’ time, to a man named John Hartley Lessingham!’ Both my mother and father had always been certain that Aunt Margaret would marry Edgar Shepherd, an old friend of the family who farms in Sussex and whom she had known for many years. ‘Perhaps she grew weary of waiting for Shepherd to propose to her,’ suggested my father, ‘or perhaps she found him a trifle dull. When last I saw him, on our most recent visit to England, his conversation seemed to consist chiefly of cattle diseases and the price of turnips and cabbages. This Hartley Lessingham was perhaps a somewhat more dashing suitor!’

“Upon our return to England, Aunt Margaret invited us to visit her at her new home at East Harrington, which we did. Then, eighteen months ago, Edwin and I again went to stay there while Mother and Father journeyed north, to Scotland, where my father had a half-interest in a jute mill in Dundee. Alas! It was a journey from which they were never to return.”

She broke off with a sob, and taking out her handkerchief, dabbed her eyes. My wife leaned across the table and patted her hand gently.

“There, there,” said she in a kindly voice. “The loss of one’s parents is indeed a cruel blow, as I know from personal experience. But the future holds out hope to us all.”

Holmes glanced at his watch.

“You had best continue with your account,” said he. “There are only fifty minutes remaining to us.”

“Aunt Margaret offered to be like a parent to Edwin and me,” said Miss Borrow after a moment, when she had composed herself, “and at first our life was as pleasant at East Harrington as could be expected under the circumstances. She engaged a tutor for us, Mr Theakston, an amusing man from the north. For a while all was well. Our lessons were the most enjoyable you could imagine. Mr Theakston was a good teacher, and he loved East Harrington as much as we did. He often took us on nature rambles over the estate, to record the birds and butterflies, and the wild flowers that grow in abundance there, especially by the river. He would tell us the most curious and interesting things. He explained to us one day where our measurements come from, how the inch, the foot and the yard are drawn directly from the dimensions of the human body, and how those nations which have adopted a more artificial system are thereby inconvenienced by forever having to use odd amounts of their measurements to represent their everyday requirements.