‘Yes, yes,’ was the smiling interruption; ‘but it was a duty from which you might easily and without discredit have excused yourself. It was, however, your brave acceptance of the duty which convinced me that she would be safe in your keeping; and to secure her happiness as far as it is in human power to do so, I was ready to sacrifice anything. I am satisfied on that point, and you know that Miss Heathcote has been satisfied for a long time.’
‘Then the story which this Hartopp told me about the losses—what of that?’
‘You must not blame Jack Hartopp; he acted faithfully according to his instructions; and it was only on account of his mania for drink that I was obliged to keep him out of your way as much as possible. With that pitiable drawback, he is as shrewd and brave as he is honest. To save my life and property, he has stood up single-handed against a gang of mutinous workmen on the diamond fields. He likes you, Philip, and you will soon respect him as well as like him. As to our losses, they have been heavy and sudden, owing to the failure of a gold-mining Company in which I had invested and the fall in the price of Cape diamonds. But we have still ample means to go on with comfortably.’
‘Is Mr Hartopp a son of our neighbours of the Chelmer Bridge farm?’ inquired Madge.
‘Yes; he was in California for a time, but hearing of the diamond fields, thought he would try his luck in them. He was in a poor plight when he reached my station; but he had a hearty welcome as soon as he told where he came from.... And now, I should like to see Mrs Crawshay and her husband. She would have recognised me at once, and that is why I have kept out of her way.’
When, however, Madge brought him face to face with the dame, the latter had to scrutinise his visage closely for several minutes before she identified him.
‘Faces change with time,’ he said, as if excusing beforehand her slowness of recognition.
‘And hearts too,’ she answered somewhat drily.
‘Not always,’ was his earnest comment; and the grasp of their hands, the smile on their faces, proved that their hearts had not changed at anyrate.
‘I am glad there is an end of this prank,’ she said by-and-by; ‘many a weary thought it has cost me, for it is the only time I have ever held anything back from Dick. But I knew thou wert meaning well, and it was not in me to thwart thee in doing what seemed to thee right, for love of Lucy. But it was a perilous adventure for all of us, and we have reason to give thanks that it ends as we would have it.’