“And what did she say to that?”

“Not a word.  She wrung her hands, and burst out crying terribly.  Ah! my friend, may you never know what it is to be a father, and see your child wring her hands, and cry her heart out, as I have seen mine.”

His own tears flowed, and his voice was choked.  He faltered out, “We are two miserable creatures; forgive us, and leave us to our fate.”

Coventry rose, sick at heart, and said, “Tell her I will not intrude upon her.”

He telegraphed to Lally, and went back to Hillsborough as miserable as those he left behind; but with this difference, he deserved his misery, deserved it richly.

Ere he had been two days in Hillsborough a telegram came from him to Mr. Carden: 

“Re Little.  Important discovery.  Pray come here at once.”

Mr. Carden had the prudence to withhold from Grace the nature of this communication.  He merely told her business called him suddenly to Hillsborough.  He started by the next train and found Mr. Coventry awaiting him at “Woodbine Villa” with strange news:  it was not conjecture, nor a matter of deduction, but a piece of undeniable evidence; and it knocked both Mr. Carden’s theory and his daughter’s to atoms at one blow.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Meantime the history of Raby House was the history of what French dramatists call “a pious lie.”

Its indirect effect in keeping Grace Carden apart both from Mrs. Little and Jael Dence was unforeseen and disastrous; its immediate and direct effect on Mrs. Little was encouraging to those concerned; what with the reconciliation to her brother, the return to native air and beloved scenes, the tenderness and firmness of Jael Dence, and the conviction that her son was safe out of the clutches of the dreaded Unions, she picked up flesh and color and spirit weekly.

By-and-by she turned round upon Jael Dence, and the nurse became the pupil.  Mrs. Little taught her grammar, pronunciation, dancing, carriage, and deportment.  Jael could already sing from notes; Mrs. Little taught her to accompany herself on the pianoforte.  The teacher was so vigilant, and the pupil so apt and attentive, that surprising progress was made.  To be sure, they were together night and day.

This labor of love occupied Mrs. Little’s mind agreeably, and, as the pupil was equally resolute in making the teacher walk or ride on horseback with her every day, the hours glided swiftly, and, to Mrs. Little, pleasantly.

Her brother rather avoided her, by order of Jael Dence; but so many probable reasons were given for his absences that she suspected nothing.  Only she said one day, “What a gad-about he is now.  This comes of not marrying.  We must find him a wife.”

When he was at home they breakfasted together, all three, and then Mrs. Little sometimes spoke of Henry, and so hopefully and cheerfully that a great qualm ran through her hearers, and Raby, who could not command his features so well as Jael could, looked gloomy, and sometimes retired behind his newspaper.