Miser Farebrother: A Novel (vol. 3 of 3) — John Shaqi
Miser Farebrother: A Novel (vol. 3 of 3)Farjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
General
Miser Farebrother: A Novel (vol. 3 of 3)
Farjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
Fiction
would have me bundled out of the house the first thing in the morning.
It was no use answering her; she was my mistress, and I had to obey her;
so I went up to my room again. I can't exactly say how long it was
afterward, but it could not have been very long--perhaps half an hour or
three-quarters, bringing the time to past two o'clock--that I heard the
voices of my master and his daughter outside the house. Whether she had
gone up to him and woke him, or whether he had gone out, as he sometimes
did in the middle of the night, I don't know, but at the time I heard
them they were in the grounds. They both seemed to be very angry. Miss
Farebrother, as well as I could make out, was insisting that her father
should give her a sum of money, and she was using threats toward him.
Presently he spoke in a more gentle tone to her, and I heard him say,
"Wait till I am dead and it will all be yours, if you will come back and
behave as a dutiful and affectionate daughter to me." And I heard her
answer: "I will do as I please and go where I please. You ought to have
been dead long ago! You had better be careful!" After that the voices
grew fainter and fainter, as if they were moving away.'
"The Coroner: 'Hearing what you did, why did you not go down to
them?'--'I did not like to; and, to tell the truth, it would have been
as much as my situation was worth to interfere. They had often
quarrelled like that, though not in the exact words I heard then; and
twice, some time ago, when I did interfere, I was sent away, and told
not to mix myself up with family quarrels.'
"'Who used these words to you?'--'Principally Miss Farebrother; but my
master also said, very sorrowfully, that I had better never trouble
myself, and that my interference would only make things worse.'
"'Had they ever quarrelled in the middle of the night before?'--'Yes;
and she was continually threatening him, so that there was nothing very
unusual in this quarrel, although it was as bad as any that ever reached
my ears.'
"'When you could no longer hear them, did you fall asleep?'--'Not
immediately; perhaps not for half an hour; I can't be sure.'
"'Did you hear them return to the house?'--'I heard nothing more of
them.'
"'Well, then, you fell asleep. At what hour in the morning did you
awake?'--'At a little before seven--my usual time. By seven o'clock I
was in the kitchen, going on with my work.'
"'Did you observe anything particular in the kitchen?'--'Nothing
particular. Things were pretty much as I had left them on the night
before.'
"'The drawer in which you kept your knives--was it closed?'--'Yes, it
was closed.'
"'The knife with the horn handle--where was that?'--'I did not know. I
had no occasion to use it, and I did not look for it.'
"'At what time in the morning did the deceased usually ring his bell for
you?'--'At nine o'clock or thereabouts; but there were exceptions, and
when nine o'clock passed and I was not summoned, I did not attach any
importance to it.'
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