'I have some news that may interest her.'
'About whom?'
'Herself.'
'Hope they are pleasant?'
'That will depend upon how she may view them,' said Allan, with a nod, as he entered the house.
'Now, what the deuce has he been up to—this fellow, with his hair cut to the military pattern—Newgate crop, I should call it—he looks queer this morning,' muttered Holcroft, as he selected a cigar from his case, bit the end off with his sharp white teeth, and proceeded to smoke it with brief, angry, and unenjoyable puffs that indicated a mind full of bitterness and ill at ease. Olive's communication had been a sudden revelation to him.
CHAPTER XIII.
ALLAN PROVES MYSTERIOUS.
If Allan's sudden departure and unexplained absence excited some curiosity in the minds of his family, his return excited it afresh when he declined to make any explanation until he had held an interview with his cousin, Olive Raymond, who, for a time, secluded herself in her own room on the usual feminine plea of having a headache.
Eveline, who had so longed for his return, now with tears told him of her father's frequently expressed wish—nay, command, and Sir Paget's forthcoming proposal; but, full of his own miseries, he could only caress her and say,