“Then I have done with you for ever. Judith Hayle may come here when I am in my grave, but till then—”
“Let the churchyard alone, mother. Do you think I’m such a fool as to marry a poacher’s daughter?”
“Rob! Then you have repented!” cried Mrs Rolph excitedly, and Marjorie trembled and sank upon her knees to cling to her aunt’s waist.
“Oh, yes, I’ve repented, and I’m going to be a very good boy and get married soon.”
“Madge, my dear child!” cried Mrs Rolph, embracing the girl at her feet.
“There, don’t get filling her head full of false hopes, the same as you did Judy Hayle’s mother,” said Rolph brutally. “I went yesterday and proposed, and have been accepted.”
Marjorie’s breath came and went in a low hiss as she turned her wild eyes upon her cousin.
“Proposed? To whom? Rob, not to that pert, penniless girl at The Firs?”
“What, the moon-shooter’s sister!” cried Rolph. “Hah! nice, little, bright-eyed thing. But no: try again.”
Mrs Rolph rose excitedly from her chair, and Marjorie’s hands dropped from her waist as she crouched lower upon the carpet.