CHAPTER XXV.
TREVOR'S RESOLVE.
If Trevor had a fault it was obstinacy. He stayed awake for a short time, but finally dropped asleep, having made up his mind, of course, not to injure Bertha Keys, whom he could not understand in the least, but to have, as he expressed it, a sober talk with Mrs. Aylmer. He saw that Bertha, for reasons of her own, was very much against this course, and he resolved to keep out of her way. He rose early and went for a long ride before breakfast. He did not return until he knew Bertha would be busy over household matters, and Mrs. Aylmer would in all probability be alone in her private sitting-room.
He tapped at her door between eleven and twelve o'clock, and at her summons entered and closed it behind him.
"Ah, Maurice, that is good," said the lady; "come and sit near me. I am quite prepared to have a long chat with you."
"And I want to have a long talk with you, Mrs. Aylmer," was his answer. He drew a chair forward, and sat where he could see right out over the landscape.
"It is a beautiful day," said the lady.
"Yes," he replied.
"Maurice," she said, after a pause, "you must know that I am very much attached to you."
"You have always been extremely good to me," he answered.