第9章

“Yes；wehadn’tclearproofofidentitythen，“hereturnedcoolly，“butwehadareexaminationofthebodybeforewitnessesafterward，andaverdictaccordingtothefacts。Thatwaskeptoutofthepapersindeferencetothefeelingsofthefamilyandfriends。I fancyyouwouldn’thavelikedtobecross-examinedbeforeastupidjuryaboutwhatyouweredoingwithJack’sportmanteau，evenifWE weresatisfiedwithit。“ “Ishouldhavebeengladtotestifytothekindnessofyourbrother，atanyrisk，“returnedRandolphstoutly。“Youhaveheardthattheportmanteauwasstolenfromme，buttheamountofmoneyitcontainedhasbeenplacedinMr。Dingwall’shandsfordisposal。“ “Itscontentswereknown，andallthat’sbeensettled，“returnedSirWilliam，rising。“But，“hecontinued，withhisforcedlaugh，whichtoRandolph’sfancymaskedacertainthreateningsignificance，“Isay，itwouldhavebeenabeastlybusiness，don’tyouknow，ifyouHADbeencalledupontoproduceitagain——ha，ha！——eh？“ Returningtothediningroom，RandolphfoundMissAvondalealoneonacornerofthesofa。Shesweptherskirtsasideasheapproached，asaninvitationforhimtositbesideher。Stillsorefromhisexperience，heacceptedonlyinthehopethatshewasabouttoconfidetohimheropinionofthisstrangestory。But，tohischagrin，shelookedathimoverherfanwithamischievoustolerance。“Youseemedmoreinterestedinthecousinthanthebrotherofyourpatron。“ OnceRandolphmighthavebeenflatteredatthis。Butherspeechseemedtohimonlyanechoofthegeneralheartlessness。“IfoundMissEversleighverysympatheticoverthefateoftheunfortunateman，whomnobodyelsehereseemstocarefor，“saidRandolphcoldly。 “Yes，“returnedMissAvondalecomposedly；“IbelieveshewasagreatfriendofCaptainDorntonwhenshewasquiteachild，andI don’tthinkshecanexpectmuchfromSirWilliam，whoisverydifferentfromhisbrother。Infact，shewasoneoftherelativeswhocameoverhereinquestofthecaptain，whenitwasbelievedhewaslivingandtheheir。Hewasquiteapatronofhers。“ “Butwashenotalsooneofyours？“saidRandolphbluntly。 “IthinkItoldyouIwasthefriendoftheboyandofpoorPaquita，theboy’smother，“saidMissAvondalequietly。“IneversawCaptainDorntonbuttwice。“ Randolphnoticedthatshehadnotsaid“wife，“althoughinherpreviousconfidencesshehadsodescribedthemother。But，asDingwallhadsaid，whyshouldshehaveexposedtheboy’sillegitimacytoacomparativestranger；andifsheherselfhadbeendeceivedaboutit，whyshouldheexpecthertotellhim？Andyet—— hewasnotsatisfied。 Hewasstartledbyalittlelaugh。“Well，Ideclare，youlookasifyouresentedthefactthatyourbenefactorhadturnedouttobeabaronet——justasinsomenovel——andthatyouhaverenderedaservicetotheEnglisharistocracy。IfyouarethinkingofpoorBobby，“shecontinued，withouttheslightestshowofself- consciousness，“SirWilliamwillprovideforhim，andthinksoftakinghimtoEnglandtorestorehishealth。Now“——withhersmiling，tolerantsuperiority——“youmustgoandtalktoMissEversleigh。Iseeherlookingthisway，andIdon’tthinkshehalflikesmeasitis。“ Randolph，who，however，alsosawthatSirWilliamwasloungingtowardthem，hereroseformally，asifpermittingthelattertotakethevacatedseat。ThispartlyimposedonhimthenecessityofseekingMissEversleigh，who，havingwithdrawntotheotherendoftheroom，wasturningovertheleavesofanalbum。AsRandolphjoinedher，shesaid，withoutlookingup，“IsMissAvondaleafriendofyours？“ Thequestionwassopertinenttohisreflectionsatthemomentthatheansweredimpulsively，“Ireallydon’tknow。“ “Yes，that’stheanswer，Ithink，mostofheracquaintanceswouldgive，iftheywereaskedthesamequestionandrepliedhonestly，“ saidtheyounggirl，asifmusing。 “EvenSirWilliam？“suggestedRandolph，halfsmiling，yetwonderingatherunlooked-forseriousshrewdnessasheglancedtowardthesofa。 “Yes；butHEwouldn’tcare。Yousee，therewouldbeapairofthem。“Shestoppedwithaslightblush，asifshehadgonetoofar，butcorrectedherselfinherformeryouthfulfrankness:“Youdon’tmindmysayingwhatIdidofher？You’renotsuchaPARTICULARfriend？“ “WebothoweadebtofgratitudetoyourcousinJack，“saidRandolph，insomeembarrassment。 “Yes，butYOUfeelitandshedoesn’t。Sothatdoesn’tmakeyoufriends。“ “ButshehastakengoodcareofCaptainDornton’schild，“suggestedRandolphloyally。 Hestopped，however，feelingthathewasondangerousground。ButMissEversleighputherownconstructiononhisreticence，andsaid，—— “Idon’tthinkshecaresforitmuch——orforANYchildren。“ Randolphrememberedhisownimpressiontheonlytimehehadeverseenherwiththechild，andwasstruckwiththeyounggirl’sinstinctagaincoincidingwithhisown。But，possiblybecauseheknewhecouldneveragainfeeltowardMissAvondaleashehad，hewasthemoreanxioustobejust，andhewasabouttoutteraprotestagainstthisgeneralassumption，whenthevoiceofSirWilliambrokeinuponthem。Hewastakinghisleave——andtheopportunityofaccompanyingMissAvondaletoherlodgingsonthewaytohishotel。HelingeredamomentoverhishandshakingwithRandolph。 “Awfullygladtohavemetyou，andIfancyyou’reawfullygladtogetridofwhattheycallyour’trust。’Musthavegivenyouabeastlylotofbother，eh——mighthavegivenyoumore？“ HenoddedfamiliarlytoMissEversleigh，andturnedawaywithMissAvondale，whowavedherusualsmilingpatronagetoRandolph，evenincludinghiscompanioninthathalf-amused，half-superiorsalutation。Perhapsitwasthisthatputasuddenhauteurintotheyounggirl’sexpressionasshestaredatMissAvondale’sdepartingfigure。 “IfyouevercometoEngland，Mr。Trent，“shesaid，withaprettydignityinheryouthfulface，“Ihopeyouwillfindsomepeoplenotquitesorudeasmycousinand“—— “MissAvondale，youwouldsay，“returnedRandolphquietly。“AstoHER，Iamquiteaccustomedtohermaturersuperiority，which，Iamafraid，istheeffectofmyownyouthandinexperience；andI believethat，incourseoftime，yourcousin’sbrusquenessmightbeaseasilyunderstoodbyme。Idaresay，“headded，withalaugh，“thatImustseemtothemaveryromanticvisionarywithmy’trust，’andthefoolishimportanceIhaveputuponaverytrivialoccurrence。“ “Idon’tthinkso，“saidthegirlquickly，“andIconsiderBillveryrude，and，“sheadded，withareturnofherboyishfrankness，“Ishalltellhimso。AsforMissAvondale，she’sATLEASTthirty，Iunderstand；perhapsshecan’thelpshowingitinthatway，too。“ ButhereRandolph，toevadefurtherpersonalallusions，continuedlaughingly:“AndasI’veLOSTmy’trust，’Ihaven’teventhattoshowindefense。Indeed，whenyouallaregoneIshallhavenothingtoremindmeofmykindbenefactor。Itwillseemlikeadream。“ MissEversleighwassilentforamoment，andthenglancedquicklyaroundher。Therestofthecompanyweretheirelders，and，engagedinconversationattheotherendoftheapartment，hadevidentlylefttheyoungpeopletothemselves。 “Waitamoment，“shesaid，withayouthfulairofmysteryandearnestness。RandolphsawthatshehadslippedanIndianbracelet，profuselyhungwithsmalltrinkets，fromherarmtoherwrist，andwasevidentlyselectingone。Itprovedtobeachild’stinyringwithasmallpearlsetting。“ThiswasgiventomebyCousinJack，“ saidMissEversleighinalowvoice，“whenIwasachild，atsomefrolicorfestival，andIhavekeptiteversince。Ibroughtitwithmewhenwecamehereasakindofmementotoshowhim。Youknowthatisimpossiblenow。Yousayyouhavenothingofhistokeep。Willyouacceptthis？Iknowhewouldbegladtoknowyouhadit。Youcouldwearitonyourwatchchain。Don’tsayno，buttakeit。“ Protesting，yetfilledwithastrangejoyandpride，Randolphtookitfromtheyounggirl’shand。Thelittlecolorwhichhaddeepenedonhercheekclearedawayashethankedhergratefully，andwithaquietdignityshearoseandmovedtowardtheothers。Randolphdidnotlingerlongafterthis，andpresentlytookhisleaveofhishostandhostess。 Itseemedtohimthathewalkedhomethatnightinthewhirlingcloudsofhisdispelleddream。Theairystructurehehadbuiltupforthelastthreemonthshadcollapsed。TheenchantedcanopyunderwhichhehadstoodwithMissAvondalewasfoldedforever。 Theromancehehadevolvedfromhisstrangefortunehadcometoanend，notprosaically，assuchromancesareapttodo，butwithadramaticterminationwhich，however，wasequallyfataltohishopes。AtanyothertimehemighthaveprojectedthewildesthopesfromthefancythatheandMissAvondalewereorphanedofacommonbenefactor；butitwasplainthatherinterestswereapartfromhis。Andtherewasanindefinablesomethinghedidnotunderstand，anddidnotwanttounderstand，inthestoryshehadtoldhim。Howmuchofitshehadwithheld，notsomuchfromdelicacyorcontemptforhisunderstandingasadesiretomisleadhim，hedidnotknow。 Hisfaithinherhadgonewithhisromance。ItwasnotstrangethattheyoungEnglishgirl’sunsophisticatedfranknessandsimpleconfidenceslingeredlongestinhismemory，andthatwhen，afewdayslater，Mr。DingwallinformedhimthatMissAvondalehadsailedforEnglandwiththeDorntonfamily，hewasmoreconsciousofalossinthestrangergirl’sdeparture。 “IsupposeMissAvondaletakeschargeof——oftheboy，sir？“hesaidquietly。 Mr。Dingwallgavehimaquickglance。“Possibly。SirWilliamhasbehavedwithgreat——er——consideration，“herepliedbriefly。