Mildred Arkell: A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 3)Wood, Henry, Mrs.
General
Mildred Arkell: A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 3)
Wood, Henry, Mrs.
Fiction
With the morning Mrs. Hardcastle came to her. She said they had received
letters which must cause them to depart for Genoa, where they found
their remitted money had really been sent.
"But, ma'am," urged poor Mrs. Dundyke, "surely Mr. Hardcastle will not
go and leave me alone in this dreadful uncertainty!"
"He intends to stay until the evening; he will not leave you a moment
earlier than he is obliged. Perhaps your husband will make his
appearance this morning."
In the course of the morning, Mr. Hardcastle went with the two boatmen
to the place where they had landed Mr. Dundyke on the previous day, and
a gentleman named by the proprietor of the hotel accompanied them; but
not the slightest trace of him could be found, though some hours were
spent in exploring. In the evening, by the six o'clock diligence, Mr.
and Mrs. Hardcastle left Geneva, the former handing to Mrs. Dundyke an
order upon the house in London, Hardcastle and Co., for the twenty
pounds he had borrowed of her husband. He regretted, he said, his
inability to furnish her, then, with any funds she might require, but he
had barely sufficient to carry himself and wife to Genoa. If Mrs.
Dundyke approved, he would, with the greatest pleasure, forward from
that city any sum she chose to name; for, being known there, his credit
was unlimited. Mrs. Dundyke declined his offer, with thanks: she
reflected that, if her husband returned, he would have his money with
him; and in the event of his mysterious absence being prolonged, she
might as well write home for money as borrow it from Mr. Hardcastle at
Genoa. She wondered, but did not presume to ask, how he had procured
funds for his own journey, and to discharge his hotel bill, which he
paid before starting.
"Keep up your spirits, Mrs. Dundyke," he cheeringly said as he shook
hands with her at parting. "Depend upon it, your husband will come home,
and bring some good reason for his absence; and if it were not that I am
compelled--compelled by business--to go on to Genoa, I would not leave
you."
She sat down as if some cold shiver had seized upon her heart. It was in
her own room that this farewell was spoken; and in that one moment, as
he released her hand, and his peculiar eyes rested on her in the
parting, and then were lost sight of, it flashed into her mind where she
had seen those eyes before. They were the eyes she had once so shrunk
from at Westerbury; at least, they bore the same expression--Benjamin
Carr's.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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