“No, my dear boy, you are mistaken in that particular; but I have a surprise in store for you.”
A pause.
“Why don’t you ask me who it is?”
“Because you’ll tell me in two minutes, if I just let you alone. You never could keep anything to yourself.”
“It is—Anne Clavering.”
Richard Baskerville sat up quickly. Surprise and pleasure shone in his face. “Why, Sara, I didn’t think you could do anything as decent as that.”
“I don’t know why. I’ve always liked the girl. And I believe you are about half in love with her.”
“You are such a suspicious old woman! But considering the share I am taking on the part of the original mortgages in those K.F.R. land grants, which may land Senator Clavering in state’s prison, I feel some delicacy in paying any attention to his daughter.”
“Naturally, I should think. But you were deep in the land-grant lawsuits before you ever met Anne Clavering.”
“Yes, that’s true. She once asked me to call but I never felt I could do so under the circumstances, though Clavering himself, who is a pachyderm so far as the ordinary feelings of mankind go, is as chummy as you please with me whenever we meet. And he actually invited me to visit his house! Miss Clavering probably knows nothing of the specific reason that keeps me away, but Clavering does, you may be sure. I have met Miss Clavering everywhere, and every time I see her I am lost in wonder as to how she came to be Senator Clavering’s daughter or the sister of Mrs. Denman and that youngest daughter, Lydia.”