Meanwhile Trevor had gone along the lane, evidently meaning to make a
call at Tolcarne. He was walking with his head bent down, thinking very
deeply over what Pratt had said, when he stopped short with a start; for
there, just in front, and gazing at him in a startled way, was little
Polly.
He nodded to her and passed on; but ere he had gone a dozen yards, he
turned sharp round and retraced his steps, calling to the girl to stop.
"I'll get to the bottom of it at once," he said. "Here, Polly."
The little girl turned, and stood trembling before him, her face like
fire, but her eyes full of tears.
"Did you call me, sir?" she faltered.
"Yes, my little maid, I want a few words with you."
"Oh, sir, please--pray don't speak to me!" faltered the girl, bursting
into tears.
"Why, you silly child, what are you afraid of?" cried Trevor, catching
her by the wrist. "Look here, tell me this, and don't be afraid."
"No--no, sir," faltered the girl.
"Tell me now, honestly--there, there, stop that crying, for goodness'
sake! Any one would think I was an ogre. I hate to see a woman
crying."
"Please, sir, I am trying," sobbed the girl.
"Now, then, I want to know this--you have often met me here--do you come
to meet Humphrey?"
"No, sir."
"Then why the deuce--there--there, I don't mean that--tell me why you do
come?"
"Aunt sends me to walk here, sir; but please don't say I told you, or
she will be so angry."
"Then you don't want to come and walk here?"
"Oh no, sir! I would much rather not," exclaimed the girl, eagerly.
"Your aunt sends you, then?" said Trevor, looking at her searchingly,
while she gazed up in his eyes like a dove before a hawk.
"Ye-yes, sir!"
"Do you know why?"
The girl's face grew fiery red now, even to the roots of her hair, and
as she looked appealingly at him, he flung her hand angrily from him.
"There, go back," he exclaimed. "I'm not cross with you, but--there, go
home."
The girl sprang away, evidently frightened to death, and weeping
bitterly, to pass these people--she could not tell whom--as she held
down her head; but Trevor saw, and he knew that they saw him, and must
have witnessed part of the interview; for the party consisted of Tiny
Rea, her sister, and Mr Mervyn.
"Was ever anything so provoking?" muttered Trevor, as they bowed and
passed, taking a turning that led in another direction. "Oh! this is
unbearable."
For a moment he stood irresolute, hesitating as to whether he should
hurry after them; but he was, to use his own words, too much taken
aback, and ended by following a narrow pathway into the woods, down
which he had not gone half a dozen yards before he became aware that
there had been another spectator to his interview with Polly, and that
no less a person than Humphrey.
"What the devil are you doing there, sir?" roared Trevor, who was half
beside himself with a rage which grew hotter as the bluff young
Cornishman stood leaning on his gun, and said, sturdily--
"Watching you, sir."
"Watching me?"
"Yes, sir. I did not mean to, but I was obliged when I saw what I did."
"Then you saw me talking to that girl?"
"Yes, sir, I did; and you had no right to do so."
"How dare you speak to me like that, sir?" roared Trevor; and thoroughly
roused now, he caught the young keeper by the throat, and for a few
moments the ferns were trampled under foot as they wrestled together,
till the veins stood up in knots in Humphrey's white forehead, as his
hat fell off, and, grinding his teeth together, he put out his strength,
and, with all the skill of a Cornish wrestler, threw Trevor heavily on
his back.
"You would have it," said the keeper, hoarsely. "You made me forget my
place; so don't blame me for it. Have I hurt you, sir?"
The rage had departed as quickly as it came, and the young man went down
on one knee by Trevor, who was half-stunned, but recovered himself
quickly, and got up.
"No. I'm not much hurt," he said, hoarsely.
"You made me do it, sir," said Humphrey, pitifully. "You shouldn't have
laid hands on me, sir--it made me mad."
"Made you mad!" said Trevor, angrily. "This is a pretty way to serve
your master."
"You're no master of mine, sir, from now," cried Humphrey. "I can't
stand to serve you no more. I'd have stuck to you, sir, through thick
and thin, if you'd been a gentleman to me, but--"
"Do you dare to say I've not been a gentleman to you, you scoundrel?"
cried Trevor, menacingly, as he clenched his fists.
"Now, don't 'ee, sir," cried Humphrey, appealingly. "I don't want to
hurt you, and if you drive me to it I shall do you a mischief."
"You thick-headed, jealous dolt!" cried Trevor, restraining himself with
difficulty. "How can you be such an ass?"
"I don't blame you, sir," cried Humphrey, "not so much as that silly old
woman who has set it all going."
"Then it is all true?" cried Trevor, angrily. "Humphrey," he said,
"you're as great a fool as that mother of yours; and--there, I'll speak
out, though you don't deserve it: as to little Polly, you great dolt, I
never said a tender word to her in my life."
"Why, I saw you with her hand in yours, not ten minutes ago," cried
Humphrey, indignantly.
"I've been calling you fool and dolt, Humphrey," said Trevor, cooling
down, "when I've been both to let my passion get the better of me, as it
has. There's a wretched mistake over this altogether; and more mischief
done," he continued, bitterly, "than you can imagine. You think, then,
that Mrs Lloyd has that idea in her head?"
"Think, sir!" cried the keeper, hotly, "I know it. Hasn't she forbidden
me to speak to the poor girl? Hasn't she half-broken her heart?"
"Humphrey," said Trevor, "you had good reason for feeling angry, but not
with me."
Humphrey looked at him searchingly.
"You doubt me?" said Trevor.
"Will you say it again, sir?" cried the young man, pitifully--"will you
swear it?"
"I give you my word of honour as a gentleman, Humphrey, that I have
never given the girl a thought; and that this afternoon, when I spoke to
her, it was to ask her if she came there to meet you; and she owned her
aunt had sent her."
"Master Dick--Master Dick!" cried the young man in a choking voice,
"will you forgive me, sir? If I had known that, sir, I'd sooner have
cut my right hand off than have done what I did."
"It was all a mistake, Humphrey. There--that will do."
"But I said, sir, you were no master of mine--Master Dick--Mr Trevor,
sir. We were boys together here--at the old place--don't send me away!"
"There, go now; that will do. Yes, it's all right, Humphrey. I'm not
angry. Send you away? No, certainly not; only go now, and don't make a
scene," said Trevor, incoherently, his eyes the while turned in another
direction; for he had heard footsteps, and at the turn of the lane he
could see through the trees that Mr Mervyn was coming, with his two
companions.
Trevor hurried off through the wood, so as to gain the path a hundred
yards in advance, and then he sauntered along so as to meet them.
"If I can get a few words with her I can explain," he said; and then
they were close at hand.
"Ah, Mr Trevor!" cried Mervyn, gaily, for he seemed elated, and he held
out his hand.
Before Trevor could take it, Fin had looked straight before her and
marched on, her little lips pinched together, and her arm tight in that
of her sister; while Tiny met Trevor's gaze in one short, sad look--
piteous, reproachful, and heartbroken--before she hurried away.
Volume 2, Chapter XII.