"Yes. I can do what I like with the woman. I know it is a terrible thing for you to find out what I am. But I took to bad courses early, Leo, and I went from bad to worse. It is a second nature for me to steal—"
"Oh!" Leo rose with a sickening sensation of disgust. "Don't tell me any of your evil doings. I know that you are my father; that you are a thief; I want to know no more. You have ruined my life."
"I have not," said Pratt. "How can you say such a thing! What you have heard to-night need go no further. I shall say nothing, and Mrs Gabriel will be forced to hold her tongue. Your name is cleared of this theft."
"Did you not steal the cup?" broke in Leo, looking at his father.
"No; I did not. If I had stolen it I should say so. But I do not know who took it. I am going to London to find out. Old Penny, the pawnbroker, is a friend of mine. I know enough to get him into trouble as a receiver of stolen goods, so he will have to tell me who it was impersonated you."
"You said in your letter that Adam—"
Pratt interrupted impatiently. "Adam had nothing to do with it," he said. "I invented all that to throw dust in Marton's eyes. I suspect that Hale has something to do with the stealing of the cup. He may have taken it himself, for all I know. But Old Penny will tell me. I'll get to the bottom of this, you may be sure. As to you, Leo, hold your tongue about being my son and come back to Mrs Gabriel. She will be quite willing to receive you, and I can force her to make you her heir. Then you can marry Sybil. When you are rich and have an assured position, the vicar will overlook the stain on your birth. It is a lie, certainly," added Pratt, with a shrug, "but to tell the truth would be to make matters worse, so we must leave things as they are. For once Mrs Gabriel has got the better of me. But it won't occur again. You stay with her, and I promise you she will be as polite as possible to you. You will be master here."
Leo listened to this long speech with his aching head between his hands. When Pratt had finished, he looked up quietly. "It is good of you to take all this trouble," he said, "but I cannot come back to Mrs Gabriel. Even if she loved, instead of hating me, I could not come back on those terms. I can never marry Sybil either. Do you think that I would let her become my wife, knowing who I am? Your sins must be visited on me, Pratt—I can't call you father. You say you are my father, and you declare that you can prove it. When you are in London I expect you to do so. Let me know your address, and I'll come up. But for the moment I assume that you are speaking the truth. In that case there is nothing for me to do but to go to South Africa and seek a soldier's death. I would rather die than marry Sybil now."
"Don't talk like that, Leo," said Pratt, much moved, and wincing at the contempt of the young man. "I am not so bad as you think. I have done many a kind action. I can—"
"Oh, don't defend yourself," said Leo, rising to go. "I must get away by the same way I came. I shall say nothing, but I hope you will be out of Colester by to-morrow night. Marton leaves in the morning, so the coast will be clear. I'm going now, and I hope to hear from you, so that you may give me proof of the truth of this story."