'Worldly!—no—but hellish,' said Alaric; 'hellish, and damnable, and fiendish.'
'Oh, Alaric, what has he done?'
'Never mind; I cannot tell you; he has done nothing. It is not that he has done anything, or can do anything to me—but his heart—but never mind—I wish—I wish I had never seen him.'
'Alaric, if it be about money tell me the worst, and I'll bear it without a murmur. As long as you are well I care for nothing else—have you given up your place?'
'No, dearest, no; I can keep my place. It is nothing about that. I have lost no money; I have rather made money. It is the ingratitude of that man which almost kills me. But come, dearest, we will go down to Charley. And Gertrude, mind this, be quite civil to Mrs. Val at present. We will break from the whole set before long; but in the meantime I would have you be very civil to Mrs. Val.'
And so they went down to dinner, and Alaric, after taking a glass of wine, played his part almost as though he had no weight upon his soul. After dinner he drank freely, and as he drank his courage rose. 'Why should I tell her?' he said to himself as he went to bed. 'The chances are that all will yet go well.'
CHAPTER XXXV. — MRS. VAL'S NEW CARRIAGE
On the next morning Alaric went to his office without speaking further as to the trouble on his mind, and endeavoured to comfort himself as best he might as he walked down to his office. Then he had also to decide whether it would better suit his purpose to sell out at once and pay up every shilling that he could, or whether he would hold on, and hope that Undy's predictions would be fulfilled, and that the bridge shares would go on rising till they would sell for all that was required of him.