"You are indifferent about the youngster, then; perhaps you are tired of both him and me. Why do you not speak?"
"You asked no question, and your remark called for no reply. You know that it was equally unjust and undeserved," replied Kathleen.
Her quiet dignity rendered Mr. Torrance uneasy, and he began to ask himself as to the source of her strength. There was something about Kathleen to-night which he could not fathom. Surely this hitherto yielding woman was not going to foil him when, as he would have expressed it, he had played his strongest card.
At this moment a servant entered and said, "Mountain would be glad to speak to you for a moment, ma'am."
"Excuse me for a moment, John," said Kathleen, "I will be back directly."
Mr. Torrance was always guarded before his servants, and he remarked, good-humouredly, "I suppose your favourite has been ailing. Mountain is a fidget about his horses."
When Mountain saw his mistress he made a remark or two about Polly, adding, "She is about well again now." Then in a low voice he said, "I've got the message, Miss Kathleen—ma'am, I mean. The child is safe at Monk's How."
An intelligent look from his mistress was enough for Mountain, and though she only remarked, "I am glad my favourite is better," he knew what his message had done for her.
Kathleen's heart beat wildly with the gladness Mountain's news had brought, but she went back to her husband with an unmoved face.
"Polly had been ailing, but Mountain says she is well again," she remarked.