Beggars on Horseback

he fact, and Sophie replied to her father's suave inquiries that the beads were a keepsake from a friend. Enclosed with th

by the next day he had not only recovered from that but apparently actually benefited by it, as it had cured him of the result of his orgy. Next day, to continue the cure, Sophie again sent him up some tea, but this time the Squire thought it tasted odd, and

, what have 'ee

, I do think," gasp

at her unsy

ed, "scrawlen' like that. Some bad you

'!" waile

kitchen, heard the commotion

you?" she exclaimed. "Ly

lied Lylie, "but 'tes nawthen but to be in

ylie, you take her arm that side and

her dislike of the girl forgotten in compassion, sent up weak broth and white wine whey. Lat

methen' that went agen her and was vomiten' all evenin'. Some bad

chair and very slowly brou

he sickness take

is lutestring piece I got to Penzance church-town. It do sore need a ribbon t

"but leave me be now. I want no more for the night. An

bed-she delivered the Squire's message. It was with a heart fluttering with hope that Sophie went to his room. He was not yet out of bed, and, wrapped in a dingy dressing-gown, much stained with snuf

or me, sir?

rely to tell you how recovered I am. How blooming you look, my Sophie-mo

citement, showed a glowing face. Her heart so

adow-if you would only let it lift-if

father is in so responsible a position, he must not accept an affair of the kind lightly, without due inquiry. Perhaps the fellow wh

yet," she faltered, "but I

ell Lylie to bring me some broth with brandy in it, and bless thee, my child. And," he added to

airs and out into the yard singing under her breath, and saw the postboy coming up the drive. He had a packet for her which she took up to her room to open. There were a dozen or so more of the

e was full of joy to see the increased brightness of her look, and soon detected a softeni

. Le Petyt with the hopefulness of the born idealist, an

r, past the open dairy windows, "and indeed, Charles, I think it must have been the Devil himself who sometimes suggested to me how much happier I should

replied Charles

. The weather had turned rainy, autumn seemed invaded by a tang of winter that evening, and the S

woman acquiescing, Sophie went into the pantry. She was gone some time, and when she reappeared Lylie glanced up fr

oatmeal out of it, for I've taken a great fancy to it

ound over the fi

relations between father and daughter with dislike. Sophie turned

urriedly, but Lylie seized the bas

urnt up with fire. Sophie, terrified, insisted on James riding at once to St. Annan's for the apothecary, and herself banished from the Squire's room by the commands h

o creep swiftly to the kitchen and pick up the saucepan Sophie had left on the hob. Hester, whom all the outcry

some of the sediment from the pan between her finger and

ster, "why, 'tes a

ave 'ee never heard that poison's white and gritty

d fled upstairs to the door of her father's room again, where she flung herself on the floor and pressed her forehead against the wood

nd the apothecary

some words to which the Squire had just giv

ordered the pa

and went towards the bed. She

ere you will, only forgive me and get well . . . I'll never see or hear from

quire beckoned the apoth

s thin wrinkled lids, "but thou should'st have remembered I am your father. As for the

alone had penetrated, "your kindness strikes at my s

u mayest live to repent and amend. . . . Leave me, lest thou should'st say something to thy prejudice-" apparently, thought the apothecary, who was himself trembling with ho

r to you I am. I never knew.

is some powder in such hands as will appear again

ted a moment, saw the patient almost comatose, and went down to the kitche

d, "what's this stuff in wi' t

the pan carefully, tried some on his

least it can have no business in the gruel. Give me white p

ing of all emotions had awakened, crept downstairs, holding her breath past her father's room, down to the kitchen. Lylie happened to be in the scullery at the moment, Hester, still weak from morbid excitement as well as illness, was seated in a shadowy corner of the kitchen. Sophie crept in, looked fearfully round her, listened, and then bega

raving and hiccuping like a madman, unable to swallow as much as a sip of water. T

ed to gain, she saw how he would lose nothing. It was she who had to pay. At the thought fear, natural, human fear, caught at her again and she sprang to her feet, a thing distraught. Escape-she must escape, get away from this dread that was closing in on her. She tied on clo

ke your fortune? You do, do you not?

want me to do

you fifteen guineas now, and more when we come there. On

e you must see the end of. 'Tes your guilty so

hie, "to see if you would. James-" but

rength of her nature, inherited from the father who could keep up a pose and plan a revenge on an agonized death-bed; the strength, which had concentrated itself during her girlhood on her ambitions, that had then made her love for Crandon, now turned to a deep hatred and rage that seemed to settle, cold and hard, on the very muscles of her body. She knew the hatred, the fierce resentment, t

t the rain-laden wind, she bent her head and made her way into the village. There little groups of people were standing about, intent, arguing. At sight of her a common feeling animated them, the various little centres of discussion broke, joined together, swept towards her. She had an impression of shaking fists, angry sounds, rude contacts, and the smell of many rain-wet bodies press

," she moaned, and he, his arms roun

e. When we get back you must tell me everything and I wi

put her in the chaise. She lay silent against him all the way back to Troon, but once there, in the parlour, her brain cleared, and she told him everything. Charles Le Petyt list

she asked when sh

s-on Crandon?" he asked passionately, and in her distress Sophie sp

she said. "Take my key-here it is-search my press, my b

nd search fell fruitless. The two desisted at

g herself into his arms. They were clinging together, wet cheek aga