Part 61 (1/2)

She tried hard to conceal it from Garstang, and believed that he did not notice it, but it was too plain. Her efforts to appear cheerful and bright at breakfast time and when he came back at night, grew forced and painful; and under his calm smiling demeanour and pleasant chatty way of talking to her about current events, he was bracing himself for the encounter which he knew might have to take place at any moment.

It was longer than he antic.i.p.ated, but was suddenly sprung upon him one evening after an agonising day, when again and again Kate had had to fight hard to master the fierce desire to get away from the terrible solitude which seemed to crush her down.

She knew that she was unwell from the pressure of her solitary life upon her nerves; the thoughts which troubled her magnified themselves; and now with terrible force came the insistent feeling that she had behaved like a weak child in not bravely maintaining her position at her uncle's house, and forcing him to fulfill his duty of protector to his brother's child.

”Is it too late? Am I behaving like a child now?” she asked herself, and at last with a wild outburst of excitement she determined that her present life must end.

She had calmed down a little just before Garstang returned that evening, and the recollection of his chivalrous treatment and fatherly attention to her lightest wants made her shrink from declaring that in spite of everything she must have some change; for, as she had told herself in her fit of excitement that afternoon, if she did not she would go mad.

She was very quiet during dinner, and he carefully avoided interrupting the fits of thoughtfulness in which from time to time she was plunged, but an hour later, when he came after her to the library from his gla.s.s of wine, he saw that her brows were knit and that the expected moment had come.

”Tired, my dear?” he said, as he subsided into his easy chair.

”Very, Mr Garstang,” she said, quickly; and the excited look in her eyes intensified.

”Well, I don't like parting from you, my child,” he said; ”I have grown so used to your bright conversation of an evening, and it is so restful to me, but I must not be selfish. Go to bed when you feel so disposed.

It is the weather, I think. The gla.s.s is very low.”

”No,” said Kate quickly, ”it is not that; it is this miserable suspense which is preying upon me. Oh, guardian, guardian, when is all this dreadful life of concealment to come to an end?”

”Soon, my child, soon. But try and be calm; you have been so brave and good up to now; don't let us run risks when we are so near success.”

”You have spoken to me like that so often, and--and I can bear it no longer. I must, at any risk now, have it put an end to.”

”Ah!” he sighed, with a sad look; ”I am not surprised to hear you talk so. You have done wonders. I would rather have urged you to be patient a little longer, my dear, but I agree with you; it is more than a bright young girl can be expected to bear. I have noticed it, though you have made such efforts to conceal it; the long imprisonment is telling upon your health, and makes you fretful and impatient.”

”And I have tried so hard not to be,” she cried, full of repentance now.

”My poor little girl, yes, you have,” he said, reaching forward to take and pat her hand. ”Well, give me a few hours to think what will be best to do, and then we will decide whether to declare war against James Wilton and cover ourselves with the s.h.i.+eld of the law, or go right away for a change. You will give me a few hours, my dear, say till this time to-morrow?”

”Oh, yes,” she said, with a sigh of relief. ”Pray forgive me; I cannot help all this.”

”I know, I know,” he said, smiling. ”By the way, to-morrow is my birthday; you must try and celebrate it a little for me.”

She looked at him wonderingly.

”I mean, make Sarah Plant prepare an extra dinner, and I will bring home plenty of fruit and flowers; and after dinner we will discuss our plans and strike for freedom. Ah, my dear, it will be a great relief to me, for I have been growing very, very anxious about you. Too tired to give me a little music?”

”No, indeed, no,” she said eagerly. ”Your words have given me more relief than I can tell.”

”That's right,” he said, ”but to be correct, I ought to ask you to read to me, to be in accord with the poem. But no, let it be one of my favourite songs, and in that way,

”'The night shall be filled with music, And the cares which infest the day Shall fold their tents like the Arabs, And as silently steal away.'”

”Longer than I expected,” said Garstang, as she left him that night for her own room. ”Now let us see.”

In accordance with his wish, Kate tried to quell the excitement within her breast by entering eagerly into the preparations for the evening's repast, but the next day pa.s.sed terribly slowly, and she uttered a sigh of relief when the hands of the clock pointed to Garstang's hour of returning.