She moved gently towards him, and laid her hand on the back of his chair.
“Dear uncle,” said she, in a low, soft voice, “it would grieve you sorely if aught befel this poor old man—aught, I mean, that we could have prevented. Let me go and see if I cannot be of some use to him.”
“Go?—go where?—do you mean to the gaol?”
“Yes, Sir, I mean to see him.”
“The yery thing I have forbidden! The express compact by which you came here was, no intercourse with this—this—family, and now that the contact has become a stain and a disgrace, now is the moment you take to draw closer to them.”
“I want to show I am worthy to be a Lnttrell, Sir. It was their boast that they never deserted their wounded.”
“They never linked their fortunes to felons and murderers, young woman. I will hear no more of this.”
“I hope to be back here by to-morrow night, uncle,” said she, softly, and she bent down her head over him till the long silky curls of her golden hair grazed his temple.
He brushed them rudely back, and in a stern tone said:
“To such as leave this against my consent there is no road back. Do you hear me?”