“Then I shall come as landlord, architect, window-designer, or any other character save that of visitor; then you will not refuse to see me.”
“You are so kind,” she said, with a graceful courtesy. “I can never do that.”
There was no pretense for prolonging the interview and Kenelm rose from his seat.
“As you receive no visitors, I may presume you do not visit. I have never met you out. Have you seen Leeholme church? It is considered very beautiful and picturesque.”
“I have never left the Dower House since I entered it,” she replied, “and most probably, when I enter Leeholme church, it will be when I am taken there to be buried. I say this to you, but I do not know why I give my confidence to a stranger.”
“They say that the happy are attracted to each other—perhaps the unhappy are the same,” he said, and then he left her.
But as he walked home he thought more of that beautiful Spanish face than he had thought of anything since Clarice died.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE TENANT OF THE DOWER HOUSE.
Never since Clarice, Lady Alden, died had Kenelm Eyrle given so much thought to another woman. The beautiful, sorrowful Spanish face did not haunt him as does the face of one most dearly loved; but he thought of, wondered at it, and would have given much to understand the sorrow that had made her a prisoner in her own house.
His time was fully occupied. Lady Hermione proved herself to be an excellent woman of business; the poor on the Alden estate had never been so well looked after, the tenants had never been more prosperous, there had never been greater satisfaction than under her gentle rule. Yet there was much in which she required Kenelm’s aid; there were some matters of business that only a gentleman could arrange. During that time they became more intimate than they had been even as children or as playfellows, and then Lady Hermione saw, with astonishment, how firmly rooted was that one idea in Kenelm’s mind—the idea of bringing the murderer of the woman he loved to justice. She was astonished at its tenacity; he seemed to live, to exist for no other aim than that. Not that it was often discussed between them, but from little things he said, from remarks he made on various matters not even connected with it, she saw it was the Alpha and Omega of his thoughts, desires and actions.