Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed; then slowly one, two, three, four—another five; then replacing his watch in his pocket, and quivering with rage, Victor Lamont started for the house.
CHAPTER LVI.
The sound of the galloping hoofs of Victor Lamont's steed had scarcely died away in the distance ere Bernardine opened her eyes and looked wonderingly about her. For an instant she believed that her strange surroundings—the bare room, with its curtainless windows, and the strange women bending over her—were but the vagaries of a too realistic dream from which she was awakening. But even while this impression was strong upon her, the woman said, sneeringly:
"So you have regained consciousness—that's bad;" and she looked crossly at the girl.
"Where am I—and who are you?" asked Bernardine, amazedly, sitting bolt upright on the wooden settee, and staring in wonder up at the hard face looking down into her own. But before she could answer, a wave of memory swept over Bernardine, and she cried out in terror: "Oh, I remember standing by the brook, and the dark-faced man that appeared—how he caught hold of my arms in a grasp of steel, and I fainted. Did he bring me away from Gardiner Castle?" she demanded, indignantly—"dared he do such a thing?"
"Do not get excited," replied the woman, coolly. "Always take everything cool—that's the best way."
"But why did he bring me here?" insisted Bernardine.
"You will have to ask him when he comes back. He is the only one who can answer that," returned the woman.
Bernardine sprung quickly to her feet; but it was not until she attempted to take a step forward that she realized how weak she was.
"What are you intending to do?" asked the woman, sneeringly.