“Ah, well, you’ve got her voice, boy, just as she used to talk to me. That’s what startled me, coming from the grave like that.” Still holding his hand, she sat for a long time with her chin resting on the top of her stick and without taking the slightest notice of anybody.
The captain broke the silence at last. “May I suggest, madam, that we have not the pleasure of knowing—of knowing——”
She sat up with a start. “Oh, I’d forgotten all about it. My name’s Carlaw—Charlotte Carlaw. I’m this boy’s aunt.”
“I met your brother this morning in some excitement,” said the captain. “He informed me that he had had a letter from you, and that he expected you to arrive. He was on his way to engage rooms for you at an inn.”
Comethup, watching her face, saw that it began to work convulsively in a most appalling manner; then she bent over her stick and began to shake; and finally her great face broke up altogether and she burst into hearty laughter, swaying and rocking herself in her chair and seeming as though she would never stop. When, presently, she recovered somewhat, she ejaculated breathlessly: “Well, that’s good; Brother Bob flaring about the town, looking for me, and seeing that my bed is properly aired, and that fires are lighted, and warming pans got ready, and that people understand my due importance. Oh, it’s good, it’s very good!”
“He seemed very anxious, certainly,” said the captain.
“Anxious? I should think so. I knew what a tremor he’d be in when I sent that letter. Well, I only hope he’ll engage rooms at every blessed inn in the place—and pay for ’em. I won’t stop anywhere now, especially a place of his choosing. No inn shall hold me; I’ll stop here.”
“But, my dear madam——” began the captain.
She turned on him fiercely. “Silence, sir! How dare you? This is my brother-in-law’s house, and I have a right to stop here if I will. What’s it to do with you? I never heard of such a thing. Do you think I’m afraid of a dead man, or forty dead men? I’ll stop just where I please, I’ll have you know.” She turned away from him angrily, and drew Comethup toward her. Bidding him stand quite still, she began to pass her hands over his face, touching every feature so lightly that he scarcely felt the touch at all; she dropped her hands finally with a sigh of satisfaction, bade him speak again, and, on being obeyed, sighed with still deeper satisfaction, and sat for a long time deep in thought. The captain was beginning to wonder what he should do, and was doubtful whether to stay or to go, although he scarcely cared to leave the boy in that house of death, when Miss Charlotte Carlaw seemed to plunge at once into his thoughts and to know them unerringly.