"I do not know exactly. He will write."
"He will write," echoed Gilbert merrily, pinching Annette's cheek. "We have our secret post-office--ah, ah! Tell him it must be secret no longer. Write openly to him; he shall write openly to you. He has been many years in Australia. Has he grown rich on the goldfields? Did he find what they call a golden claim?"
"He does not say; but I think he did not get rich there."
"Not get rich there. Did he get rich anywhere, or does he come poor?"
The picture of a needy adventurer rose before him, and had he not been a master in cunning he would have betrayed himself.
"He writes," said Annette, "that his uncle has left him a large fortune."
Gilbert drew a long breath of relief. Easier to cope with Basil rich than poor. If Basil wanted Annette, and Annette wanted him, why, he would make a bargain with the young man, who, being wealthy, would not be greedy for Annette's money. Gilbert Bidaud was a keen judge of character, and he knew Basil to be a manly, generous-hearted honourable fellow, who would be more likely to despise than to covet money with the girl he loved. If that were so, Gilbert saw a road to immunity for the past and a life of independence in the future. There was a striking resemblance in certain features of his character and that of Newman Chaytor, as there is in the natures of all purely selfish men.
"That is a pleasant thing to hear," he said. "I congratulate him from my heart." He would have added, "And I congratulate you," but he restrained himself; it was delicate ground, and it would be better to wait. Subsequently, in a conversation with his sister, he expressed himself more freely. Basil would be received and welcomed--yes, but he would be carefully sounded and observed, and she was to play her part both with Annette and her lover. It pleased Gilbert to call him so, but it did not please the girl's aunt.
"You have foolish ideas," she said. "Annette was thirteen years when we took her from the plantation. What kind of love could a man have for such a child?"
"You will see, you will see," said Gilbert. "This Basil is what we call an eccentric, and it is because he is so that I have settled upon the plan of bringing them together under our noses. Remember, my idiot of a brother left me not a coin. We have our future to look to, and gentleman Basil is the man to make it sure for us. Would you wish to have to slave for your bread as you used to do--and often not get it?"