That's how it was the property came to Eliot Coventry,
who's only a cousin."
Mrs. Hilyard suddenly went very white. Fortunately, Miss Caroline's
attention happened to be concentrated at the moment upon stirring the sugar
into her second cup of tea, and by the time this was satisfactorily
accomplished, the pretty colour was stealing back into the cheeks that had
paled so swiftly.
"I'd really no idea there were any other houses at all near mine," murmured
Mrs. Hilyard, after the briefest of pauses. "I came across an advertisement
of the Priory, dashed down to see it one day, and fell in love with it on
the spot--partly because it seemed so far from everywhere."
"We value our privacy in Silverquay," said the rector, smiling. "Almost all
the large houses are tucked snugly away out of sight--hidden by trees or
rising ground."
"Did you come here to be quiet, then?" asked Miss Caroline, thrusting in
her oar the instant her brother had finished speaking.
"Yes," answered Mrs. Hilyard simply.
Miss Caroline fixed her with a gimlet eye.
"How very surprising!" she remarked. "You don't look in the least like the
sort of person who would choose to live in a quiet country village like
Silverquay.
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