“You’re right, I should. I’d have opened the envelope yesterday by the steam of the kettle, only Dolly’d been at the pains to seal it, confound her!”
Lucian gave him a queer glance. That cynical confession did not alienate him; for one thing, he knew that it was necessary to make a large discount upon Farquhar’s revelations of iniquity, and for another, had it been true to the last word it could not have changed his feeling. Strong, quiet, and immovable, that lay welded, into his life; it almost equalled his love for Dolly; it outweighed his love for himself. He moved to give his letter to Farquhar, but checked his hand in mid-air; Dolly’s affectionate words might so easily be misconstrued by a jealous eye. Instead, he plunged the envelope over the side, and let it float away.
“There goes temptation,” he said, as the chain of bubbles ended.
“There’ll be others to come, though. There is some one calling.”
It was Charlesworth hailing them from the shore; Farquhar took up the oars and rowed back. The huge figure of the American loomed up against the twilit sky, quiet as a rock; he never was impatient.
“Way up at the hotel I heard you singing, and I made out you must be down here, sir; higher up the water’s not deep enough to drown a kitten,” he said, as Farquhar secured the boat. A stake and a rope were all that was needed, without bars or locks; theft was unfashionable at Petit-Fays.
“Nothing wrong, is there?” Farquhar asked.
“I’d not go so far as to say that; but I told you we were running into some dirt, and it’s come up pretty close.”
“Ah! what’s up, then?”
Charlesworth fell in beside him and told his tale. The path was narrow, the grass dewy, and the American had shown pretty plainly that he took his orders from one master only. Lucian dropped behind and meekly held his peace. It appeared that the lad who had been injured was demanding compensation; Charlesworth, who was ready to give, had refused to concede; and a venomous little dispute had sprung up, which was breeding bad blood between him and the men. Added to this, they were asking higher wages.