'I can't say what it was. I was not there at the time, but I heard talk about it. Mrs. Warne had to threaten to send for the constable to remove her.' Mr. Holwood sighed. 'Bless my soul, how sad!' 'And at Nethersole's farm it was wusser. They had a to-do to prevent her from firing the ricks.' 'Under the influence of――of liquor?' 'I did not inquire. I hear she made a bobbery as well at Thomas Gasset's. I am pretty sure, sir, that the best course for you is to leave Seaton as speedily as possible. Mrs. Warne does not know your name, I suppose?' 'Oh, no! I have given no name.' 'Well, sir, leave everything to me. Why should you, a gentleman, and connected with the Government, be troubled about such scurvy matters as these? I will continue to act as go-between, and Jane Marley shall never know that you have been here, and doing her the honour to inquire about her. She thinks you still abroad, Governor of――what is the place――Australia?' 'Tierra del Fuego. To this we agreed it should be,' said the gentleman dejectedly. Then, after a long pause, he said, 'Does she now happen to entertain any hopes, any desires, of seeing me again? Does she ever express a wish for renewal of our old relations?' He had his key against his tongue twisting it about. Verily the only thing about the man that was braced and taut was his lavender trousers, strained by the straps under his soles. 'Mr. Holwood, sir,' said Dench, 'no; frankly, no. Not a wish, not a thought but to fasten her nails in your face, and tear your bottle-green coat off your back, as a wild cat might do. She loves you no more, she just about hates you with all her flambustical temper. Certainly she don't want to see you again, least of all since she's took up with this Captain Rattenbury.' Mr. Holwood winced. He wiped his lips with a silk kerchief and then his tall brow. 'If she were to see you, sir, it would be just like the sons of Sceva the Jew, as we read of in Scripture, and the possessed of the devil.' 'Merciful Heavens! Such an incident! if it should get into the papers! If that curate cousin of mine were to hear the faintest whisper of it his ears would go up like windsails.' 'Then, sir, go back to the Red Lion, and at daybreak take the coach to Axminster, and thence to town. Leave me to manage matters, prudently, secretly, economically, And trust to no one else.' CHAPTER VIII ON THE PEBBLE-BEACH Mr. Holwood was unable to sleep that night. Before leaving the ferryman's house he had resolved to depart for town by the coach on the morrow, and he had given orders to be called early, and to have some breakfast got ready for him.