“Tell me, sir, for mercy’s sake—tell me if he is alive or dead. His grandfather, Lyme Kensett, yearns to see him. Already he has saved this unhappy and ill-fated young man from being convicted—now he wishes to make him his heir. Is he alive?”
“He is,” said the old ferryman—“he is alive.”
“Bless you for telling me this. It has given me new life. I may yet see him. Tell me where he is. Oh, give him to me!”
The old man shook his head.
“I cannot do that,” he slowly answered. “She must do that, I cannot.”
“She—Laura Stanbridge?”
He bent his head.
“Is she in London?”
He made the same sign.
“Now leave me,” he said.