I have met all the neighbours and trust all of them alike - that
is to say, I trust none of them, not even Sir Henry and the
Doctor, who is an everyday presence at the Hall, and spends much
time with Sir Henry. Perhaps it is the obscurity of his wife that
sets my suspicions on edge, though I can put my finger on nothing
solid in the text of everyday events that suggests in Mortimer
anything but cordiality and concern.
I discovered that Stapleton once owned an Establishment in the
North Country.  He said that the work to a man of his temperament
was mechanical and uninteresting, but the privilege of moulding
other minds was very dear to him.  (It sounded much like my Army
days - indeed my own days at the Duke's Establishment!) The fates
being against him, a serious epidemic broke out and there were
several fatal victims. The Establishment never recovered from the
blow, and much of his capital was irretrievably swallowed up.
He misses his charges, he says, but relishes his new life on
