The words drew his attention from the game for a second, and Arthur looked behind him to the field on the other side of the path. Was that Miss Pearl Carrington? He knew the family, for they visited one another occasionally and the family had more money than his - though were of lesser rank - and Arthur saw them as an important source for funding his projects and for connections and influence. The Carringtons had sons who were well-bred and bound to be wealthy too, and he had a bunch of teenage daughters...

But here was their youngest daughter, all alone. Was it true then, what he had heard? That she had gone to live alone in some common cottage to - God forbid - 'make her own way in the world'? He had always held the girl's parents in high esteem, but that story made him wonder whether they had lost their minds. He approached, nevertheless, to hear the story for himself. "Miss Pearl!"