But when alone again she began to wonder whether she really did love him. He was so cold and strange in manner that he sometimes chilled her, and although he persisted in declaring that he loved her, she could not help feeling that something had come between them. What it was she could not think, and his refusal to explain piqued her. She after all, had a right to share his secrets, and he declined to trust her. She was a very good-hearted girl and affectionate; but she thought a great deal of herself, for flattery and adulation had been her portion all her life. Jennie had divined rightly. What she felt for Webster was not so much love for the man as admiration for the artist.
"Wait till he speaks to my father," she said to herself. "If he should consent, Neil will be once more the affectionate fellow he was."
That night came young Webster's opportunity of speaking to Mr. Cass. They found themselves alone in the smoking-room somewhere after eleven. Mrs. Marshall had whisked her husband off, intimating that she wished to speak to him; and as a matter of fact she desired to tell him of her discovery as to Ned's identity. The communication, she knew, would not be a pleasant one for him to hear from his association with the young man's father. Besides which, it is not always agreeable to remember that you have been the friend of a man who has been murdered.
Heron also had left the smoking-room early, so the two who were so desirous of speaking to each other had their wishes gratified.
"You are not in spirits to-night, Neil," the elder man, who always addressed him thus when they were alone. And why not, seeing that Webster was his protege?
"No," was the gloomy reply. "I do not feel satisfied with my position."
"And why not? You have found fame and money, and----"
"I know all that," interrupted Neil, "but I am thinking of my parents. I do not know who they were."
Mr. Cass was quite prepared for this. Indeed, it was not the first time the young man had asked him! and his answer now was the same as he had always made. "I have told you a dozen times that your parents were Americans and died in the States. I knew them intimately, and so was the means of bringing you to England. There is nothing for you to worry about."
"Why cannot I recollect my childhood?" persisted Neil.