A Hole in the Wall

My taking the detective out to Sunnyside raised an unexpected storm of
protest from Gertrude and Halsey. I was not prepared for it, and I
scarcely knew how to account for it. To me Mr. Jamieson was far less
formidable under my eyes where I knew what he was doing, than he was of
in the city, twisting circumstances and motives to suit himself and
learning what he wished to know, about events at Sunnyside, in some
occult way. I was glad enough to have him there, when excitements
began to come thick and fast.

A new element was about to enter into affairs: Monday, or Tuesday at
the latest, would find Doctor Walker back in his green and white house
in the village, and Louise's attitude to him in the immediate future
would signify Halsey's happiness or wretchedness, as it might turn out.
Then, too, the return of her mother would mean, of course, that she
would have to leave us, and I had become greatly attached to her.

From the day Mr. Jamieson came to Sunnyside there was a subtle change
in Gertrude's manner to me. It was elusive, difficult to analyze, but
it was there. She was no longer frank with me, although I think her
affection never wavered. At the time I laid the change to the fact
that I had forbidden all communication with John Bailey, and had
refused to acknowledge any engagement between the two. Gertrude spent
much of her time wandering through the grounds, or taking long
cross-country walks. Halsey played golf at the Country Club day after
day, and after Louise left, as she did the following week, Mr. Jamieson
and I were much together. He played a fair game of cribbage, but he
cheated at solitaire.