King of the Castle Part 99

Trevithick laughed.

"How can you be so cruel, sir?" cried Mary. "Oh, John, dear, that man is killing poor Claude. Seriously, can't you discover some way to separate them?"

Trevithick shook his head.

"Then Claude will separate herself."

"I wish she could. But how?" said Trevithick, with a sigh.

"By dying."

"What?"

"Yes," said Mary, with the tears in her eyes. "I can see beneath all that calm, patient way of hers. Her heart is broken, John; and before six months are over she will--"

Poor Mary could not finish, but sank upon her knees at Trevithick's feet, laid her face in her hands, and sobbed as if her heart would break.

Volume Three, Chapter XVII.

A CLIMAX IN GLYDDYR'S LIFE.

There was a scene one day at the Fort when, after finis.h.i.+ng the business in connection with a heavy sum which had been raised to pay over to Gellow, the lawyer had taken upon himself to suggest that it was not fair to his old client's daughter that such a heavy drain should be kept up on the fortune she had brought him.

This was sufficient to send Glyddyr into a fit of pa.s.sion, with the result that Trevithick was ordered to give up all charge of the estate for the future, and hand his papers over to another solicitor, who was named.

"Very good, Mr Glyddyr," said the lawyer quietly. "As far as you have claims I will do so; but I must remind you that I am your wife's trustee, and even if she wished to obey you, I cannot be ousted from that."

Claude suffered bitterly for this when the lawyer was gone, but she forbore to speak. She felt that she was forced to give up the hints and friendly counsel of one whom her father trusted, and she trembled lest there should be a breach with regard to Mary, and that she should lose her. Sarah Woodham had been abused and insulted almost beyond bearing a hundred times, and ordered to go, but she always smiled sadly in Claude's face afterwards.

"Don't you be afraid, my dear," she used to say. "Let him say what he will, I'll never leave you."

One day Sarah Woodham entered the room to find Mary in tears, but as they were hastily dried, they were ignored.

"I beg pardon, miss; I thought Mr Trevithick was here."

"Why should you think that?"

"Because I saw him at the hotel half-an-hour ago."

"No; he has not been, and is not likely to come after such treatment as he received from Mr Glyddyr a fortnight ago."

"Going out, miss?" said Sarah, as she saw Mary beginning to dress hurriedly.

"Yes. Where is your master--in the garden?"

"No, miss. He has gone down to the quarry."

"With your mistress?"

"No, Miss Mary. She is in the garden."

Mary shuddered as she thought of the future, and of Glyddyr's recovery of his health.

"Are you cold, Miss Mary?" said Woodham earnestly.

"Yes--I mean no. That is--nothing. If Miss Claude--"

She stopped short.

"I mean, if your mistress calls for me, say I have gone for a walk. No, no, no," she cried pa.s.sionately. "I must not go. If he knew that I had been out, it would cause trouble."

Sarah Woodham sighed. The words were incontrovertible.

Mary began to take off her things, but changed her mind and put them on again.

"I will go. I must see him," she said. "You shall go with me, Sarah.

It would not look so then--would it?"

"I think, as Mr Trevithick cannot come here now, you have a perfect right to go and see him."

"Mr Trevithick!" cried Mary, with her face aflame; "why do you say that? I did not speak of going to see Mr Trevithick."

"No, Miss Mary--no, my dear; but do you think I did not know. And I'm very, very glad."

Mary was looking at her with flas.h.i.+ng eyes, but the flames were put out by her tears, and she caught and pressed Sarah's hand.

"You don't seem like a servant to us," she whispered quickly. "Come with me, please."

Five minutes later they were on their way down the slope to the beach, with Mary trembling at what she thought was her daring behaviour; and as she walked on everybody she pa.s.sed seemed to know where she was going, and to crown her confusion, just as they were nearing Mrs Sarson's, Chris Lisle came out, nodded to her, changing colour a little, and was about to pa.s.s her, but he stopped short.

It was the first time they had met for months.

"Will you shake hands, Mary?" he said, raising his own hesitatingly.

"You know I will," she cried eagerly, as she placed hers in his, glad of the relief from her thoughts.

"I am very, very glad to speak to you again, dear," he said, in a subdued way. "You look so well, too, with that colour. There, I will not keep you. Perhaps some day we may meet again, and be able to have a friendly chat. Good-bye!"

He walked hurriedly away, and the tears rose to her eyes.

"Poor dear Chris!" she said. "I always seemed to love him as if he were my brother."

"Who could help liking him, Miss Mary?"

"Sarah?"

"Yes, miss. You were speaking aloud. Ah! poor lad, we don't often see him about now. Look, miss; Mr Trevithick."

Mary had already seen the lawyer as he stepped out of the hotel and came towards them slowly, till he appeared to see them suddenly, when he turned sharply upon his heel and went back to the hotel.