Mr. Ransom recalled the tenor of her strange letter on this subject, but was not convinced.  He inquired of Mr. Harper if he had heard her say anything about the equally astounding fact of a returned brother, and when he found that this was mere jargon to Mr. Harper, he related what he knew of Hazen and left the lawyer to draw his own inferences.

The result was some show of embarrassment on the part of Mr. Harper.  It was evident that in her consultations with him she had entirely left out all allusion to this brother.  Either the man had advanced a false claim or else she was in an irresponsible condition of mind which made her see a sister where there was a brother.

Ransom made some remark indicative of his appreciation of the dilemma in which they found themselves, but was quickly silenced by the other’s emphatic assertion: 

“I have seen the girl; she was with Mrs. Ransom the day she came here.  She sat in the adjoining room while we talked over her case in this one.”

“You saw her—­saw her face?”

“No, not her face; she was too heavily veiled for that.  Mrs. Ransom explained why.  They were too absurdly alike, she said.  It awoke comment and it gave her the creeps.  But their figures were identical though their dresses were different.”

“So! there is some one then; the girl is not absolutely a myth.”

“Far from it.  Nor is the will which Mrs. Ransom has asked me to draw up for her a myth.”

“Her will! she has asked you to draw up her will!”

“Yes.  That was the object of her visit.  She had entered the married state, she said, and wished to make a legal disposition of her property before she returned to you.  She was very nervous when she said this; very nervous through all the interview.  There was nothing else for me to do but comply.”

“And you have drawn up this will?”

“According to her instructions, yes.”

“But she has not signed it?”

“Not yet.”

“But she intends to?”

“Certainly.”

“Then you will see her again?”

“Naturally.”

“Is the time set?”

The lawyer rose to his feet.  He understood the hint implied and for an instant appeared to waver.  There was something very winsome about Roger Ransom; some attribute or expression which appealed especially to men.

“I wish I might help you out of your difficulty,” said he.  “But a client’s wishes are paramount.  Mrs. Ransom desired secrecy.  She had every right to demand it of me.”

Mr. Ransom’s face fell.  Hope had flashed upon him only to disappear again.  The lawyer eyed him out of the corner of his eye, his mouth working slightly as he walked to and fro between his desk and the door.

“Mrs. Ransom will not always feel herself hampered by a sister, or, if you prefer it, a brother who has so inconveniently come back from the dead.  You will have the pleasure of her society some day.  There is no doubt about her affection for you.”