But it was not to be. On the first occasion when he had asserted his authority, and kept master Matthew within the castle walls against his will, he had run away at night, and had remained away two months and more, and before he went he had robbed his grandfather’s strong box of a large amount of money in gold. After that the earl had surrendered, and the boy had been suffered to lead his own life after his own will and pleasure.
One thing, and one only, gave the old man a grain of comfort: his grandson seemed desirous to gain a good education; and so long as the boy was at Oxford, at his studies, he would try to be content. Ah! if Lord Allerdale could have known the character and extent of the youth’s studies, it might have been different!
At the age of eighteen Matthew had entered one of the best colleges, or, at least, he professed so to have done, and the time for his graduation was now near at hand.
Touching the matter of money, he had plenty to spend; more, in fact, than he should have had, but his father had left him a goodly sum. He had also inherited from his mother, so his guardian, as the less of two evils, had let him have about all he had asked for. The greater evil, which the earl could not have put away, was debt.
During his visits to the castle, from first to last, Lord Oakleigh had given Cordelia but little trouble; though he sometimes looked at her in a manner that made her afraid. And he had once let fall a remark that she could not forget. It had been about a year previous to the time of which we are now writing. He had been at home on the autumnal vacation.
One day he met Cordelia in one of the halls, alone, and offered to kiss her. She pushed him away angrily, and bade him, with quivering lips and flashing eyes, never to repeat the offense.
He laughed at her, seeming to enjoy her spitefulness, as he called it; and he said to her, with significant nod, and a look straight into her eyes:
“Don’t be afraid of me, my pretty one. I should be a fool to harm you, seeing that you are my own. Look sharp, Cordelia. Be sure you’re ready when I call for you!”
And with that he had turned away, and had never alluded to the subject since; but our heroine was very sure he thought of it, and it worried and fretted her exceedingly.
They set forth, a happy, merry trio—Cordelia, Percy, and Mary—the latter being regarded as a dear companion rather than as a servant.