You
were sent away in order that you might not see me."
"Not see you, Mrs. Conway! Why, you must be joking. Why, papa, what
reason could there possibly be why I should not see Mrs. Conway? And
beside, you never told me in your letter that she had been here."
"I have not been here--at least not in this house; but I was in the
church every Sunday. I was there before you went away, although you
did not see me. I was sitting in the pew with the Hall servants."
"With the Hall servants!" Mabel repeated in astonishment. "What did
you sit with them for? and where were you staying? and why did you
come to the church every Sunday and not come here?"
"That's just the story you are going to hear, Mabel. You heard of
course, that it was Mr. Penfold's intention to leave you half his
estates?"
"Yes, I heard that; and then there was no will found so of course I
didn't get it."
"No, my dear; but as we all believed that there was such a will, we
were naturally unwilling to let the matter rest. Still, the chance of
finding it seemed very remote. You remember we spoke to you about it
when they offered you that hundred a year."
"Yes, papa, you told me then that you thought they were keeping me out
of my rights, and that was why I ought to refuse to take it. Yes, you
did say they were keeping Ralph out too, and that was partly why you
thought I ought not to agree to take the money; and of course I
thought so too, because that would seem as if we had deserted Ralph.
Pages:
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402