The brother and sister put her to rest with other dead in a great
cemetery, and never once mentioned her name after that, although often
when their loss was fresh upon them they would sit hand in hand by the
widowed hearth, weeping silently for the ease of their full and weary
hearts.
The day following that on which the brother and sister took possession
of Crawford's House, Layard felt less anxious about their lodger's
condition of mind than he had the evening before. In the darkness
of night and the strangeness of a new house and the loneliness of
this deserted neighbourhood it had seemed as though Crawford was
insane--might, in fact at any moment develop into a dangerous maniac.
In the sweet sunlight of a bright May morning the fears of the night
before looked preposterous, and at very worst the lodger appeared to
be no more than a fidgety, nervous, excitable man, with whom it would
be a bore to live all one's life.
When his usual time came, Layard kissed his little son and his sister,
and went off to his business at the great gasworks with no fear or
misgiving in his heart.
Mr. Crawford gave no indication of being a troublesome lodger. He had
a simple breakfast, consisting of eggs and bacon and coffee, and in
the middle of the day a simple dinner, consisting of a chop and
potatoes, with bread-and-cheese and a bottle of stout. At tea he
hadn't tea, but coffee again, and a lettuce and bread-and-butter. For
a man with his income he was easily pleased, thought Hetty. He had
found fault with nothing. In fact, he had said no word beyond the
briefest ones that would convey his wishes, and when Mrs. Grainger
asked if the food had been to his liking he had said simply, "It was
all right, thank you." To that good lady he had imparted the
impression that he was too much occupied with matters of the mind to
give much heed to matters of the body, and he had answered all her
questions in a preoccupied and absent-minded manner.
After tea Mr. Crawford showed no sign of going out. He drew an
easy-chair to the window, and sat down at the right-hand side of the
embrasure, so as to command a view of the head of the island across
which he had seen the man pass the evening before.
He heard Layard's knock and his voice below-stairs, but still he did
not stir. From the place where he sat, any man coming along the
tow-path at a walking pace would be in view a minute or a minute and a
half before passing out of sight behind Boland's Ait. Crawford did not
remove his eyes from that tow-path for any thirty consecutive seconds.
"I knew him at once," he whispered; "I knew him the minute I saw
him. I knew his build, his figure, his walk, the way he swings his
hands--ay, his face, far off as he was--ay, his face, his accursed
vengeful face."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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