He was superstitious in this instance; and if he could have followed the promptings of his own inclinations, he would far rather have burned this mysterious heirloom, without learning the nature of its contents, than run the risk of discovering some story of the past which would make his cheek burn with shame to rehearse to this lovely woman, who had become so much to him during the last year.
Still assuming a lightness of manner, although her own heart was strangely oppressed by the magnetism of his fear, Lady Bromley herself lifted the foot-rest, and bore it to the table, where she deposited it.
Then, after placing a chair before it, she again went to Gerald’s side, slipping her hand within his arm, and forcibly compelling him to cross the room and be seated.
“Now, my dear boy,” she said, laying her hand caressingly on his head, and speaking with exceeding tenderness, “let not your heart be troubled, no matter what the contents of this strange treasure-chest reveals to you; all is wisely ordered by a good Father. Nothing can harm you individually; Miss Winchester’s judicious training and your own innate nobility of character have made you a man whose friendship any man or woman might be proud to win, and from whose real worth no mistake or shadow of a previous generation could detract one iota.”
Gerald lifted his face to the beautiful one bending above him, and there was a suspicious moisture in his eyes. He gently took the hand from his head, and, bringing it around to his lips, left a reverent caress upon it.
“Lady Bromley, how kind you are to me! How much you have become to me during the short year of our acquaintance! I owe you more than I can express—especially for your almost divine sympathy during my recent trouble. I believe, but for you, I could not have lived and kept my reason, after learning of Allison’s terrible fate, and now——”
Her ladyship laid her fingers upon his tremulous lips. She saw that he was on the verge of a wild outburst of grief, in view of the crushing sorrow of the past, and the dread of what might be in store for him.
“Hush!” she said softly, “do not look back. We all have our troubles and losses. I have had mine, and no living soul, save myself, knows how hard to bear some of them have been”—this with visible emotion; “and if I should allow myself to dwell on them I should be one of the most wretched women living. Now I am going to run away,” she continued more brightly, “but when I come back, let me find all these somber clouds dispersed.”
She swept her hand lightly and caressingly across his brow as she ceased speaking, then went quickly from the room. Gerald sat moodily, thinking for a long time after she disappeared. His arms were tightly folded across his breast, his head was bent, and his whole attitude plainly indicated the great depression of mind which held him enthralled.
Mentally he went over the ground of his whole life, recalling many incidents of his childhood which, at the time, had seemed of no importance whatever, but which now, viewed in the light of later events—of his aunt’s persistent evasion of his questions and of Lady Bromley’s discovery of that day—appeared to be strongly significant of some vital secret regarding his origin.