He released her hand which he had been holding all the while, the
conductor gave the door a bang, and the omnibus dashed on. Sara had
turned white as death. A variety of emotions that she would not have
cared to analyse were at conflict within her--for the voice was the
voice of Oswald Cray.
And he had gone away, not seeing her. For _that_ she was on some
accounts thankful. He might have been as much surprised to see her in
an omnibus--perhaps more so--as he was the young lady opposite; and
least of all to Oswald Cray could Sara have explained the errand on
which she was bent. She stole a glance at the girl's interesting face:
a good and sensible face one that might well win the regard even of
Oswald Cray; and that baneful plant, jealousy, which perhaps had taken
root in her heart before, suddenly shot forth its sharp tendrils into
every corner. What right had she, Sara Davenal, to indulge any such
passion?--had she not parted from Oswald Cray for ever?
"Did you not ask to be put down at Essex Street?"
The question aroused her from her pain. It came from the same young
lady opposite, and Sara looked up with a start.
"Yes;" she answered.
"Then we must have passed it, for this that we are going through is
Temple Bar, and I know Essex Street is before we come to that. This
young lady told you to set her down at Essex Street," she added to the
conductor. And the man stopped the omnibus without offering the
slightest apology.
"Thank you," said Sara to her courteously. And she walked away with
the pleasant voice ringing in her ear: and the conviction within her
that it must be Jane Allister.
She walked slowly down Essex Street, looking out for the offices of
Messrs. Jones and Green, and soon found them. It was a large and
dusty-looking house, on the right-hand side of the street, and was
apparently let out to different occupants, as there were various names
on the door. The top one was "Mr. Carberry:" it was simply written in
black letters on the door-post; the second was on a great brass plate,
nearly as large as the post itself, "Jones and Green:" and there was
another brass plate, which had on it "Messrs. Knollys, Solicitors to
the Great Chwddyn Mining Company."
Sara stood still as the last words caught her eye, arrested by
surprise. It was not the unpronounceable name that drew her attention;
but the fact that this Great Chwddyn scheme was the very one in which
Mark Cray had embarked; the El Dorado of his friend Barker; the source
of Mark's present flourishing prosperity and of his future greatness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account