The two gentlemen walked along in silence for some distance. The younger, who had little doubt that he knew where his uncle’s child was, thought it better, in the face of various mysterious circumstances, to keep this knowledge to himself. He could not feel that he was showing brutal callousness to the feelings of a father, since that father had remained for months within a mile of his child without making any attempt to see him. A parent who could be so placidly indifferent to the well-being of his son might well, his nephew thought, be left in ignorance on the matter a little longer.
Old Mr Bayre, on his side, was not inclined to be expansive. He glanced from time to time at his nephew, as if curious to know what he thought of the affair; but beyond a few casual remarks upon the duplicity of these people, and the sagacity his companion had shown in discovering the fraud, he said little until they reached the avenue, where he stopped short, as if with an intimation that at this point it would be fitting to bring their interview to an end.
“What does a young fellow like you know about children, that you should have discovered this deceit?” he asked curiously.
“Well, I had heard the age of my young cousin, and it was easy to see that the baby in the Vazons’ care was not only much younger, but was not of the same class,” said Bayre, secretly amused when he remembered at what expense of mental worry his uncommon experience had been gained.
Old Mr Bayre still looked rather puzzled, but all he said was,—
“Ah! Very acute. You have a suspicious mind, I see.” He paused a moment, and then added, without looking at his nephew: “You appear to have a great deal of time to waste in holidays.”
The remark seemed so comically ungrateful, after the service he had just rendered his uncle, that the young man could not help smiling.
“I go back to-morrow,” he said simply. “So, as I suppose you will not wish me to come and take a formal farewell, I can wish you good-bye now.”
He did not offer to shake hands, neither did his uncle. With a scrutinising look at him from under the peak of his cap, the old man nodded, and saying shortly, “Well, good-bye,” disappeared along the avenue.
Young Bayre felt sore, though without much reason. Knowing what he did of his uncle, he might have guessed that the old man would merely balance the small service done him against his nephew’s burglarious entry, and would cry quits.