It seemed to me quite incredible. I think Lady
Knollys read my amazement and my exalted estimate of the heinousness of the
procedure in my face, for she said--
'You know we can't quite condemn Silas till we have heard what he has to
say. He may have done it in ignorance; or, it is just possible, he may have
the right.'
'Quite true. He may have the right to cut down trees at Bartram-Haugh. At
all events, I am sure he thinks he has,' I echoed.
The fact was, that I would not avow to myself a suspicion of Uncle Silas.
Any falsehood there opened an abyss beneath my feet into which I dared not
look.
'And now, dear girls, good-night. You must be tired. We breakfast at a
quarter past nine--not too early for you, I know.'
And so saying, she kissed us, smiling, and was gone.
I was so unpleasantly occupied, for some time after her departure, with the
knaveries said to be practised among the dense cover of the Windmill Wood,
that I did not immediately recollect that we had omitted to ask her any
particulars about her guests.
'Who can Mary be?' asked Milly.
'Cousin Monica says she's engaged to be married, and I think I heard the
Doctor call her _Lady_ Mary, and I intended asking her ever so much about
her; but what she told us about cutting down the trees, and all that, quite
put it out of my head.
Pages:
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485