“You’ll forget,” she said, with miserable lack of conviction. “We shall be—Edred and I—a bad dream. Never trouble to give us a thought.”
“But I shall expect to hear from you; to see you, perhaps, if I go to London. I’ve often thought of a week in London. I haven’t been since my father died. We saw most of the sights, but missed the Doré Gallery. Everyone ought to go there.”
She gasped.
“You could come up, see us together—man and wife. You can talk of the Doré Gallery!”
“Why not? I mustn’t lose sight of you, my mother’s kin.”
“Kin!” she cried out, with bitter scorn for herself and Edred. “He isn’t, at all events. His real name I don’t know; he was sentenced as Edred Pugin. As for me! Very likely my father was not your missing uncle at all. I hope not—for your sake. I’m no credit to you.”
“You must send me your address. If that ruby company is good and all the shares are not allotted, I’ve money lying by—I shan’t need to spend so much now——”
“You don’t know Edred. Never let him have another penny. He has done you harm enough. You won’t want our address; we shan’t be creditable people—for you to know. Up to-day and down to-morrow—I know the life I’m going to lead. But I step into it with my eyes open, because—because it will be with him. I want you to know the very worst of me—you’ll be cured all the sooner. Your misery is nothing—compared to him. My heart is all stone—until he dissolves it. He doesn’t want me. But I’m glad, mad to go. Remember all this when I’m gone. Say she was a callous, reckless, scheming, unprincipled creature—she is well forgotten.”
She slipped past him, and out of the room, and up the stairs. Once he thought he heard her sing and then stop abruptly. He went out and tramped moodily across his acres, finding fault with everything, swearing freely at the men, kicking his dog, and roughly ordering away a party of children who were playing in the meadow.
Pamela packed. She said good-by to Gainah, who never troubled to lift her head, tipped the two maids. When she told them, in a marked and significant way, that her brother was dangerously ill, pretty Nettie began to blubber.