Mr. Foster made a few remarks to Reggie which were also meant for me.
'I trust, my lord, that my attitude towards you in the past will not be misconstrued. As I did what I held to be my duty towards your brother, so I will observe equal fidelity towards you. If it should be happily shown--which I do not doubt it will be--that you are now the Marquis and in possession of the family estates, I will study your interests with the same honesty of purpose with which I studied his.'
'Very good of you, Foster. You shall hear from me in due course.'
Reggie turned on his heel; and the great, and hitherto supreme, Mr. Foster, was snubbed. It was injudicious, perhaps, but we both of us owed him a good deal more than a snubbing.
At last Reggie and I were alone. The first thing he said, directly their backs were turned, showed what was in his mind.
'It would be awkward if what that brute Foster keeps hinting at was true, and Twickenham was married.'
'No fear of that. He wasn't. Twickenham wasn't a marrying man.'
'Let's hope it. A wife and family of his would be a crowning mercy.'
'There's not the slightest fear of anything of the kind. I'm sure of it. It's Foster's cue to make you fidgety. Don't you let him have the satisfaction of thinking that he even retains the power of making himself disagreeable.'
Reggie was observing the silent figure.