"Where, Cuckoo?" I asked anxiously, for, bearing in mind what the gardener knew, I was eager to know his whereabouts.
"To London town," said Mrs. Gilfin solemnly, "young men with money always go there to have a spree. And since you've caught the eye of Miss Gertrude, Master Cyrus, dear, that young man's given up trying. With his aunt's money he's gone to enjoy himself."
I doubted it. Striver was too deeply in love to get rid of his crazy passion so easily. Still it was possible that he had gone to London to drown his disappointment in an orgy, so I took the news of his departure to Gertrude, although I did not tell her of Mrs. Gilfin's belief. I found the girl puzzling over a letter from her father.
"He's going to New York on business," she said, handing me the letter; "now I wonder what his business can be, Cyrus. And why did he go away without coming down to tell me personally and say good-bye?"
I read Mr. Monk's precise handwriting carefully. He had kept to my agreement with him, and had left the country. He would be away, he wrote to his daughter, for an indefinite period, and hoped to return a wealthy man. I guessed that such a mean creature would probably stay in America and marry there, leaving his daughter to look after herself. Luckily there was a postscript stating that if Gertrude wanted money she was to apply to a lawyer whose address was given. I handed back the letter with a shrug. Since Mr. Monk had departed there was no reason for me to say anything at all, although I had limited my silence to a fortnight.
"I expect he's found some business which will make him rich, and has had to go off in a hurry. You can't miss him very much, Gertrude, darling, for he is never here."
"No, that is true," she said thoughtfully, folding up the letter, "and since you have come into my life, Cyrus, I miss my father very little, still he might have come to say good-bye. I am afraid," she ended, sighing, "that papa is a little selfish."
"Well, never mind. He'll return with wealth, as he says."
"Do you think he will?"
"I am sure of it," I replied, kissing her, for if Mr. Monk did appear in Burwain again, a contingency I could not be sure would take place, he would doubtless admit his possession of the Australian cousin's money to his daughter. Meanwhile, as I pointed out, he was gone, and Striver was gone, so all we had to do was to enjoy ourselves.