“He must have wished to save his father and sister pain, and he knew the trick would cost him a good deal. For one thing, it would prevent his going home to be reinstated, because of course if he had done so, we would have seen he was not the man we had met in Canada. He meant to stay here, refusing to benefit by the change in his affairs, out of consideration for his relatives.”
“And you approve his passing off this western farmer for a Jernyngham?” Mrs. Colston asked.
“Oh, that!” Muriel’s laugh was scornful. “You were satisfied with the man until you knew his name was Prescott. How was it that you didn’t miss the inherent superiority of the Jernynghams? Besides, I can’t think Cyril suffered by getting his friend to represent him. Though people won’t talk very freely, I’ve picked up some information since I’ve been here, enough to show what kind of man Cyril was. He hadn’t much to boast of, and one must do him the justice to admit that he seems to have recognized it. You probably know, though you hid it from me, that on the evening he should have met us he was lying in the hotel after getting badly hurt in a drunken brawl among some riotous Orangemen.”
“I can’t have any reflections cast upon Orangemen,” Colston objected. “There are a large number in my constituency; most worthy people, for whom I’ve a strong respect.”
“You have a respect for their votes, you mean,” Muriel rejoined. “You know you’re really ritualistic High Church. If your constituents knew as much about St. Cuthbert’s as I do, they would turn you out.”
“I have never hid my convictions,” Colston declared. “Anyway, I have ascertained that the greater proportion of the Orangemen were sober.”
“Then,” retorted Muriel, “I’m sorry that Cyril was not. But there are more important points to consider.”
“That is very true,” said Mrs. Colston. “Will you tell Jernyngham that we have seen Prescott, Harry?”
Colston hesitated.
“No; I don’t think so. I’m afraid of the effect it may have on him; and he won’t be up when we get in. All the same, he’s bound to hear the news from somebody else very soon.”