The House of the Seven Gables Lesson Plan

What are the first rumors about the possible whereabouts of Hepzibah and Clifford? What can we infer about the origin of the other rumors from this?

The very first rumor is created between Uncle Venner and Holgrave, who speculate that the wind must have kept Hepzibah up, so she must be sleeping late. The second rumor is that Clifford and Hepzibah have gone to Jaffrey's country house, which is the deduction of a woman who saw them leave and could not imagine where else they might have to go. From here we can see that people take what few facts they have, and connect the dots, rightly or wrongly. These rumors continue to form until someone actually guesses that Judge Pyncheon...