His cross-examination had won the case, for his side. Its ability
was undoubted, even to her untutored mind, and from this, in that
indirect method--taking no heed of the straight line--by which women
come leaping to their admirable conclusions, she received the
impression that when Traill came down to Apsley, he would not come
alone.
It is scarcely possible to see how this is arrived at; yet, to the
mind of a woman, it is simple enough. Her brother had, after all these
years, breasted his way out of the slow-moving tide of mental
indifference, into the rapid current of ambition. When a man does
that, her intuition prompted her to know that it is more than likely
that he brings a woman with him. It is always possible for a woman
to recognize--apart from her own identity--that her sex is an
encumbrance to most men which they cannot easily shake off. Witness
the generous criticism of a woman upon any husband but her own.
Combine with this intuitive knowledge the fact--hitherto unrecorded,
even by Traill to Sally--that when he handed over Apsley Manor to
his sister and took her ready money in exchange, Traill had made her
sign a document granting him the right to repurchase possession with
the same amount at any time that it might please him, and you have
the apprehension of the woman who knows that possession constitutes
but few points of the law when there is ink and parchment to nullify
the whole transaction.
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