At last I heard a step on the stairs. It was Sir William, and he was coming up alone. He came into the room, and shut the door behind him, and, coming up to me, he said kindly:
"Miss Lindsay, I have to thank you for the kind way in which you have influenced Evelyn to-day. She tells me that it is entirely owing to you, that she has been led to confess to me her foolish conduct."
"I am quite sure, Sir William," I said, "that Evelyn is very thankful that she has told you. She loves you so much, that it was misery for her to feel she was deceiving you."
"Yes, poor child!" he said. "She has suffered a great deal these last two days. I do not blame her; of course she acted very wrongly, but the chief fault does not lie at her door."
I did not answer, and he went on:
"That nephew of mine wants putting in his proper place. I hope this will be a lesson that he will not forget! I shall not spare him, I can tell you. I ant afraid he is a designing fellow! Evelyn does not see through him, of course, but I do; and I shall let him know it too. But I need not trouble you with this, Miss Lindsay," he said, as he rose to leave the room. "I just wanted to thank you very much indeed for being a true, wise friend to my dear child, and to tell you how I value the influence you have over her."
This was a great deal for Sir William to say. He had never before given even the slightest hint that he was pleased with anything I did. He was a very silent man, and seldom expressed his feelings, and, therefore, a few words of praise from him were worth double what they would have been had they come from any one else, and I felt very thankful that God had enabled me to please him in this matter.
"Evelyn is coming upstairs now, Miss Lindsay," said Sir William, as he left the room; "will you be so kind as to see that she goes to bed at once?"
I promised to do so, and presently he brought her upstairs.
She looked very tired and troubled, and her eyes were swollen with crying, but she put her arms round my neck and kissed me, and was very loving and affectionate to me. When her father had gone downstairs she said: