Rufus sobbed pitifully, and turned away to hide his weakness. He was but a boy, a poor, weak, cowardly boy, afraid of his father, unable to earn a living for himself and Lally, unable even to support himself, and he had actually gained his marriage license by committing perjury--swearing that he was of age, and his own master. He had laid a snare for himself in that wrong act, and was now entangled in that snare. He felt himself helpless in his father’s hands, and sat down at the desk, and with tear-blinded eyes and unsteady hand, dashed off a wild, incoherent letter to his poor young wife, telling her that their marriage was null and void--that she was not his wife--and that they two must never meet again. When he had appended his name, he bowed his head on his arms and wept aloud. Craven Black coolly perused the letter and approved it. He folded it, and put it in his pocket-book. “I will take it to her,” he said quietly. “My cab is at the door, and I am ready to start to London. I shall take the half-past ten express, if I can reach Canterbury in time. You will await my return here. I shall be back before evening. Reconcile yourself to your fate, Rufus, and don’t look so woe-begone. I shall expect to find you in a better frame of mind when I return. As to the girl, I will provide for her liberally. Fortunately I am in funds just now. I shall send her away somewhere where she will never cross your path again!” Without another glance at his son, he took up his hat and went out. The rumbling of the carriage wheels, as it bore Craven Black on his way to Canterbury, aroused Rufus from his stupor. That sound was to him the knell of his happiness! CHAPTER XII. BLACK CONTINUES HIS CONSPIRACY. As the hours wore on after Rufus Black’s departure from the dingy little lodging he had called home, poor Lally became anxious and troubled. Her young husband had inspired her with a great awe for his father, as well as terror of him, but she was a brave little soul and prayed with all her heart that Rufus would have courage to confess his marriage, let the consequences of that confession be what they would. She had a horror of concealment or deception, and she believed that Craven Black would relent toward his son when he should discover that he was really married.