Again Mrs. Lecount
offered no remark, and again the signs and tokens of incredulity showed
themselves in her face. Vacillation of purpose was not at all unusual in
her experience of her master. But on this occasion she believed that
his caprice of conduct was assumed for the purpose of gaining time to
communicate with North Shingles, and she accordingly set her watch on
him once more with doubled and trebled vigilance.
No letters came that morning. Toward noon the weather changed for the
worse, and all idea of walking out as usual was abandoned. Hour after
hour, while her master sat in one of the parlors, Mrs. Lecount kept
watch in the other, with the door into the passage open, and with a full
view of North Shingles through the convenient side-window at which she
had established herself. Not a sign that was suspicious appeared, not a
sound that was suspicious caught her ear. As the evening closed in, her
master's hesitation came to an end. He was disgusted with the weather;
he hated the place; he foresaw the annoyance of more meetings with Mr.
Bygrave, and he was determined to go to St. Crux the first thing the
next morning. Lecount could stay behind to pack up the curiosities and
settle with the trades-people, and could follow him to the admiral's
on the next day.
Pages:
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752