“Savage at heart, and false of tongue,
Subtle with age, and smooth to the young,
Like a snake in his coiling and curling.”
T. Hood.
So you have been to the Abbey?” he said, smiling benevolently upon her.
“Yes,” she replied, her blue eyes looking straight into his. “And we have seen Ralph. He was there, too, just behind us. He walked back with us.”
Sir Matthew frowned slightly. Then, recollecting the presence of the servants, he beckoned Evereld to his study.
“Come in here, my dear,” he said, in his soft voice. “You are quite right to tell me all so frankly, and it is natural enough that you should be pleased to meet your old playfellow. But you must remember that things are not now as they once were.”
“Ralph and I shall always be friends,” said Evereld, gently, but with a firmness which startled her guardian. “Things are not altered between us because we don’t live under the same roof now. How could that alter us?”
“My dear, it is for Lady Mactavish and myself to decide who shall or who shall not be your friends,” he said, with quiet decision.