'
'And why not?'
'He would na' leave the sport for this, I'm thinking,' and the old woman
grinned uglily.
'When is he to return?'
'When he wants money.'
So we grew silent, and again I thought of suicide, and of the unhappy old
man, who just then whispered a sentence or two to himself with a sigh.
For the next hour he had been quite silent, and old Wyat informed me that
she must go down for candles. Ours were already burnt down to the sockets.
'There's a candle in the next room,' I suggested, hating the idea of being
left alone with the patient.
'Hoot! Miss. I _dare_ na' set a candle but wax in his presence,' whispered
the old woman, scornfully.
'I think if we were to stir the fire, and put on a little more coal, we
should have a great deal of light.'
'He'll ha' the candles,' said Dame Wyat, doggedly; and she tottered from
the chamber, muttering to herself; and I heard her take her candle from the
next room and depart, shutting the outer door after her.
Here was I then alone, but for this unearthly companion, whom I feared
inexpressibly, at two o'clock, in the vast old house of Bartram.
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