“Yes, sir, something like it.�
“And you don’t want ’em?�
“Not at the price I have to pay for them, sir.�
“But I don’t believe Skelton can help himself, or you either, from your having that fortune. I think he wants to marry Miss Sylvia Shapleigh; and if he dies, or marries, his wife’s money either goes to you or to the Blairs; and I believe the poor dead woman would turn over in her grave if she thought anybody that Skelton hates like the Blairs would get it.�
“But wouldn’t she hate for me to get it?� asked Lewis.
“Well�—here Bulstrode began to rub his shaggy head—“not so much as the Blairs. You see, you are innocent yourself; nobody would feel any grudge against you; it all happened before Skelton married her; and Mrs. Skelton was so desperately fond of Skelton, that she would be very likely to be tolerant towards any innocent creetur’ that he loved. Queer subjects women are.�
“If Mr. Skelton thinks I am going to give up without a fight, he’s very much mistaken!� cried Lewis suddenly.
Bulstrode clapped him on the back and roared out, “Good for you, boy!�
Some days after that Skelton sent for Lewis into the library. Lewis went with a beating heart. There had not been the slightest change in their relations since that morning in the library, but it had been wholly Lewis’s own doing. He maintained a reserve towards Skelton that was unbroken. Much as he loved the boy, Skelton could not bring himself to become a supplicant, as it were, for his affections; and so, although each watched the other, and they lived under the same roof, there was a grim reserve between them.
When he reached the library, Skelton had before him a sheet of paper with a translation on it.