‘But some sort of reply must be sent to her letter,’ he continued, ‘or she may present herself at any moment in Hampstead. She is very impetuous, you know, Crampton, and will not easily believe that you can be seriously angry with her. We must prevent a scandal if possible. You had better write to her, or see her once, just to come to an understanding, that you may know what to expect, and she also.’
‘I will never see her, nor write to her again,’ said Mr Crampton.
‘Henry, could you not do so?’ asked his wife, pleadingly. ‘If Mr Crampton consents to it, could you not first verify the marriage, and then see poor Jenny, and tell her her father’s decision? Someone ought surely to do it.’
‘Where does she write from?’ asked Mr Hindes.
‘From the Castle Warden Hotel at Dover, whence they will probably cross over to Paris. If you follow them it should be at once. Will you go? Shall I get your portmanteau ready?’
She loved the girl, and cherished a secret hope that, through her husband’s intervention, a reconciliation might be effected between the daughter and her parents.
‘I am at Mr Crampton’s service,’ said Mr Hindes.
‘What do you expect to issue from the proceeding?’ asked the old man, in a muffled voice. ‘I will never receive her back at “The Cedars.” It is of no use giving her any false hopes, for my decision is irrevocable. She is dead to me from this time forward.’
‘Will her mother consent to that, sir?’
‘If she does not she must join her daughter, for I will have no one who associates with Papists in my house. I would as soon cherish a brood of vipers. But I do not anticipate my wife being so ungrateful as to desert me in this extremity.’