“First, then, for what offence was Madame Dalibard expelled her uncle’s house,—this house of Laughton?
“Secondly, what is the crime with which Mr. Mainwaring, Helen’s father, is charged?”
“With regard to the first,” said Varney, recovering his composure, “I thought I had already told you that Sir Miles was a proud man, and that in consequence of discovering a girlish flirtation between his niece Lucretia (now Madame Dalibard) and Mainwaring, who afterwards jilted her for Helen’s mother, he altered his will; ‘expelled her his house’ is too harsh a phrase. This is all I know. With regard to the second question, no crime was ever brought home to William Mainwaring; he was suspected of dealing improperly with the funds of the bank, and he repaid the alleged deficit by the sacrifice of all he possessed.”
“This is the truth?” exclaimed Percival, joyfully.
“The plain truth, I believe; but why these questions at this moment? Ah, you too, I see, have had letters,—I understand. Lady Mary gives these reasons for withholding her consent.”
“Her consent is not withheld,” answered Percival; “but shall I own it? Remember, I have your promise not to wound and offend Madame Dalibard by the disclosure: my mother does refer to the subjects I have alluded to, and Captain Greville, my old friend and tutor, is on his way to England; perhaps to-morrow he may arrive at Laughton.”
“Ha!” said Varney, startled, “to-morrow! And what sort of a man is this Captain Greville?”
“The best man possible for such a case as mine,—kind-hearted, yet cool, sagacious; the finest observer, the quickest judge of character,—nothing escapes him. Oh, one interview will suffice to show him all Helen’s innocent and matchless excellence.”
“To-morrow! this man comes to-morrow!”
“All that I fear is,—for he is rather rough and blunt in his manner,—all that I fear is his first surprise, and, dare I say displeasure, at seeing this poor Madame Dalibard, whose faults, I fear, were graver than you suppose, at the house from which her uncle—to whom, indeed, I owe this inheritance—”