The duke shrugged his shoulders.
“A Marchioness of Trafford could scarcely do that,” he said, simply. “It was almost better for her to have done what she did; but let us go now, my dear; I am afraid I have saddened you with my dismal story. Let us get into the sunshine again.” And he, too, shuddered slightly.
Esmeralda glanced over her shoulder at the lake as they drove away, and the thought of the woman who had preferred death to a loveless life haunted her for more than a mile. Then they came in sight of the sea, and the vision of the white figure fled before the glorious view.
The duke leaned forward and waved his ebony stick round the bay.
“Beautiful, is it not? There are few finer bays in England. Look straight below you, my dear. You see how the coast curves? That is where the new watering-place, that I told you of last night, is to be. There—just by that jutting rock—will be the pier, and the esplanade will run round the curve, with the houses, in a terrace, at the back. It will make a capital seaside town, will it not?”
“Yes,” said Esmeralda. “And are you going to build it?”
“Yes,” assented the duke, placidly, as if he had the money at his bankers. “It will be rather a large undertaking, and it will cost a great deal of money; but I hold that it is reprehensible to let money lie idle while it could be used in providing employment for hundreds of deserving persons. And it will improve the property also. I shall not see it, but Trafford, I trust, will do so, and”—he looked at her with a little smile—“you, too, my dear.”
Esmeralda colored. She felt rather surprised. The Belfayres could not be poor, as Norman Druce had said, if they were going to spend all this money.
As they drove home, this impression deepened, for the duke spoke of other improvements, and always in the tone of a man who was possessed of unlimited wealth; and he found fault with the steward, Mr. Helby—and even Trafford himself—for neglecting certain improvements.
“You must rouse them to a sense of their duty, my dear,” he said, with a smile.