Cursed by a Fortune Part 34

"Be quiet, Maria. Let the shallow-brained young idiot speak," growled Wilton. "Now, sir, answer me--have you gone through some form of marriage?"

"Who with?" said the young man, with a grin.

"Answer my question, sir. Have you gone through some form of marriage?"

"I? No. I'm free enough, guv'nor."

"You have not?" cried Wilton, aghast. "You mean to tell me that you have taken that poor girl away somewhere, and have not married her?"

"No, I don't mean to tell you anything of the sort. Here, mother, is the pater going mad?"

"Silence, Maria; don't answer him."

"Yes, do ma. What does it all mean? Has Kitty bolted?"

"She's drowned--she's drowned, my boy."

"Nonsense, ma! You're always thinking someone is drowned. Then she has bolted. Oh, I say!"

"No, sir; she has not bolted, as you term it in your miserable horsey slang. You've taken her away--there; don't deny it. You've got her somewhere, and you think you can set me at defiance."

"Do I, guv'nor?"

"Yes, sir, you do. But I've warned you and shown you how you stand.

Now, look here; your only chance is to give up and do exactly as I tell you."

"Oh, is it?" said the young man mockingly.

"Yes, sir, it is. Now then, be frank and open with me at once, and I may be able to help you out of the miserable hole in which you have plunged us."

"Go ahead, then. Have it your own way, guv'nor."

"No time must be lost--that is, if you are not deceiving me and have already had the ceremony performed."

"I didn't stand on ceremony," said Claud, with a laughing sneer; "I gave her a few kisses, and a nice row was the result."

"Will you be serious, sir?"

"Yes, I'm serious enough. Where has she gone?"

"Where have you taken her?"

"I haven't taken her anywhere, guv'nor."

"Do you mean to tell me, sir, that you did not go up a ladder to her window?"

"Hullo!"

"Bring her down and take her right away?"

"I say, guv'nor," cried Claud, with such startling energy that his father's last suspicion was swept away; "is it so bad as that?"

"Then you didn't take her off?"

"Of course I didn't. Take her off? What, after that scene? Likely.

What nonsense, guv'nor! Do you think she'd have come?"

"Claud, you amaze me, my boy," cried Wilton, who looked staggered, but his incredulity got the better of him directly. "No; only by your effrontery," he continued. "You are trifling with me; worse still, you are trifling with a large fortune. Come, it will pay you best to be frank. Where is she?"

"At the bottom of the pike pond, for all I know--a termagant," cried Claud; "I tell you I haven't seen her since the row."

"Then she is drowned--she's drowned."

"Be quiet, Maria!" roared Wilton. "Now, boy, tell me the truth for once in a way; did you elope with Kate?"

"No, guv'nor, I did not," cried the young man. "I never had the chance, or I'd have done it like a shot."

Wilton's jaw dropped. He was quite convinced now, and he sank into a chair, staring at his son.

"I--I thought you had made short work of it," said Wilton, huskily.

"Then she really has gone?" said Claud in a whisper.

"Yes, yes, my dear," burst out Mrs Wilton. "I knew it! I was right at first."

"Where has she gone, then, mother?"

"Hold your tongue, woman!" cried Wilton, angrily. "You don't know anything about it--how could she get a ladder there? Footsteps on the flower-bed, my boy. A man in it. I thought it was you."

"And all that money gone," cried Claud.

"No, not yet, my boy. There, I beg your pardon for suspecting you. It seemed so much like your work. But stop--you are cheating me; it was your doing."

"Have it your own way, then, guv'nor."

"You were seen with her last night."

"Eh? What time?" cried Claud.

"I don't know the time, sir, but a man saw you with her. Come, you see the risk you run of losing a fortune. Speak out."

Claud spoke in, but what he said was his own affair. Then, after a minute's thought, he said; "I say, would it be old Garstang, guv'nor?"

"No, sir, it would not be John Garstang," cried Wilton, with his anger rising again.

"No; I have it, guv'nor," cried Claud, excitedly. "I went up, meaning to have a turn in town with Harry Dasent, but he was out. That's it; he hasn't a penny in the world, and he has been down here three times lately. I thought he'd got devilish fond of her all at once; and twice over he let out about Kitty being so good-looking. That's it; he's got her away."

"No, no, my dear; she wouldn't have gone away with a man like that,"