This went on for several days, and then I found that Naomi's father had made his home at Pennington, and that he had been visited by lawyers and others interested in the Trevose Estate. I learnt, too, that no objections whatever had been raised as to his assuming the proprietorship, and that all legal forms had been satisfactorily complied with. And yet neither he nor Naomi sent me one word of cheer; nay, they did not even recognise my existence, which, it must be admitted, was hard to bear. Then, as if to add another drop to the filled goblet of my sorrow, I one day met the Pennington carriage, in which was seated Richard Tresidder and Nick, together with John Penryn and my love, but none of them noticed me; nay, not even Naomi gave me as much as a nod. This, as may be imagined, made my prospects darker than ever, for I felt that my love's father had taken the Tresidders' part against me. And yet I could not drive away from my heart the feeling that my love loved me. I remembered our meeting in the summer-house in Lanherne Garden, I remembered the words she spoke; nay, more, I felt the joy of her kisses, and so I could not wholly despair. On the other hand, however, I felt that she was now under the control of her father, and if his mind had been poisoned against me my case was indeed hopeless. Indeed, within a week from the time when I took Mr. Penryn to Pennington, it was rumoured that Naomi had overcome her objection to Nick Tresidder, and that, owing to her father's wishes, she had consented to be his wife. There seemed nothing that I could do, yet I would not go away; nay, I could not. I was chained to St. Eve; and although I knew I was in danger from Captain Jack and his gang, I heeded not. Tamsin Truscott, I discovered, was slowly recovering, and it was to her, I suspect, that I owed my safety. I tried many times to gain an audience with Naomi's father, and in this also I was unsuccessful. He refused to hold any intercourse with me, and this embittered me all the more, because, even if he regarded me as the merest stranger, I had tried to be a friend to him and his. I tried to excuse him, and thus gain hope by saying that he was busily engaged in the affairs of his estate; but all the same my heart was very weary and sad in those days, especially as every one seemed to shun me. No one would befriend me; no one gave me a kind or helpful word.