She was anxious that the girl should accept Eva’s invitation to accompany her abroad, and wondered at her gentle refusal that she could not be coaxed into reconsidering.
“She does not wish to go away from Doctor Ludington,” Eva said, with bitterness she could not repress.
Ada did not try to defend herself, and the lady looked curiously from one to the other. The tone of bitterness in Eva’s voice reminded her of the angry accusations of Patty Groves the morning of her memorable call.
Eva had promised to explain everything, with her father’s permission, but the truth was that he had sternly refused his consent.
He did not know whether his sister could be brought to believe in Eva’s innocence as he did. He knew that circumstances looked very dark against her, and he preferred not to run the risk of telling Mrs. Hamilton, and have her betray everything to her stepson, and perhaps arouse a prejudice against Eva that would destroy all chances of the match on which he had set his heart.
The day came when he bitterly repented his reticence, but now he was immovable to Eva’s entreaties. It was much better his sister should not learn the truth, he said.
When he learned of the engagement and approaching speedy marriage he was delighted, and applauded himself for the reticence with which he had kept the secrets of Eva’s shadowed past.
He did not believe that they could ever rise like unquiet ghosts to vex her brilliant future. Had he known of the presence of her cousins in New York he might have felt a little uneasy, but neither Eva nor her aunt had spoken to him of their visit. They did not even know whether they were still in New York.
Without a thought of future disaster, he lent himself with eagerness to the preparations for Eva’s marriage.
As she was his only child and heiress, everything must be on a grand scale befitting his daughter and the fine match she was making.