“Richard Croxton, needless to say that from this day forth we are strangers; my house can no longer give you shelter. For the sake of one whose memory I shall always revere, I shall take no steps. Nobody but Rosabelle and my wife will know the real reasons of your departure. I am now going to the city to get money to replace that which has been stolen. I shall go there and return here as quickly as possible. I have no heart for any other business to-day. When I return, let me find you gone. Later on I will invent some plausible explanation of the severance of our relations, and give it out to those who are interested.”
He turned on his heel without vouchsafing another glance at the miserable man upon whom, up to the present, he had lavished kindness and affection, strode through the hall, and a minute later he had left the house.
The two wretched lovers were left alone, and when the door had closed, the poor girl broke down, and threw herself into Richard’s arms, sobbing bitterly.
CHAPTER IV
GIDEON LANE TAKES A HAND
“What an awful day!” she cried when Richard had calmed her a little, not that he was in much of a mood to administer consolation to others. “And last night, when we talked of our future, and I told you to pluck up your courage, I felt so gay and light-hearted. Oh, Dick dear, it will kill me; but no, I must not let it do that. We must both be brave, and strain every nerve to prove your innocence.”
“It is indeed a tragic day,” corroborated her lover. “And, my darling, but for this inexplicable mystery, it would all have been such plain-sailing. In the midst of his reproaches, he paused to tell me that he knew of our love for each other, and that he would have put no obstacles in the way.”
The poor girl sobbed afresh at this. To have the cup of happiness dashed down when it was so near her lips—could there be a more poignant disappointment? But presently, she rallied and dried her tears, and inquired his plans for the future. Morrice had ordered him to quit the house before he returned to it. There could be no disobeying that command.
“I have often spoken to you of the dear old soul who was first my mother’s nurse and then mine. My grandfather left her a small annuity as reward for her faithful services to his family. She has a tiny little cottage at Petersham, near Richmond. She will take me in until I have collected my thoughts sufficiently to decide upon my future.”
“And I shall come and see you there, Dick,” cried the girl eagerly, “even though you are forbidden this house.”
“My darling, you must not do anything without your uncle’s sanction. In certain moods, he is a stern and hard man.”