“So do I,” added Mr. Cory. “All the same, I wish she had taken us into her confidence. The child is only twenty, and has never been entirely thrown on her own resources before. Suppose she were to fall into the hands of swindlers, and be robbed of the money she has with her? All sorts of evils might happen before she could communicate with us.”
“John, I’m surprised at you. Annie is too much in earnest, and at the same time too wary, to play into the hands of the enemy. You don’t like the notion of her pursuing her investigations alone. After all, it is the best thing she can do; for you must admit that neither you nor the detective have been much use in the case.”
“That was due to adverse circumstances, not to our want of penetration.”
“I am willing to grant that; but I have no doubt that Annie is actuated by an idea that she is less likely to put Stavanger on his guard if alone than if accompanied by anyone else. For my part I have resolved not to be uneasy about her. Have you heard anything of what the Stavangers are doing just now?”
“Jogtrotting, as per usual, I suppose, except that the elder daughter is to be married soon. I am not sure that it is not to-day.”
“I’m sorry for the man who marries into that family. But, of course, we have no grounds for warning him. And now about Harley. It is wonderful how he keeps his health. Oh, are you going to bed, Mrs. Riddell? Well, good night. Perhaps all is going to be cleared up soon, and you must keep your spirits up, for your son’s sake.”
“For the sake of my sons, yes,” said the old lady tremulously. “And for the sake of the dear girl who has done so much for them and for me.”
“Strange how the dear old soul clings to that belief in Hilton’s ultimate recovery,” said Miss Margaret, when she and her brother were once alone. “Nothing seems to convince her that he is really dead.”
“We have plenty of proof that he is dead. There is the word of all the people who voyaged with him in the ‘Merry Maid’ that he disappeared in mid-ocean. And the length of time that has now elapsed precludes all possibility of his being alive still.”
“Of course, he must be dead. And our poor friend will be bound to awaken in time to the bitter truth that the sea will not give up its dead.”