Stephen Grant

In the short story At the 'Bells and Motley, young Stephen Grant' was in charge of Captain Harwell's horses. He was dismissed by the captain for some trifling offence. After the disappearance of the captain, Stephen was questioned by the police because he had been seen in the vicinity of Ashley Grange near the time of the disappearance and could not explain why he was there. However the police could not prove anything and he was discharged. Nonetheless the cloud of suspicion continued to hang over him so that the rest of the community began to shun him. Even William Jones refused to let his daughter Mary Jones marry Stephen. He acknowledge that he had not been found guilty but "well, we dont know, do we?"