Little Novels

'I believe him as I believe You,' Percy answered.

She secretly resented the comparison, and detested the Captain more heartily than ever. 'I will go in and see him, if you wish it,' she said. 'But not by myself. I want you to come with me.'

'Why?' Percy asked.

'I want to see what his face says, when you and he meet.'

'Do you still doubt him, Charlotte?'

She made no reply. Percy had done his best to convince her, and had evidently failed.

They went together into the cottage. Fixing her eyes steadily on the Captain's face, Charlotte saw it turn pale when Percy followed her into the parlor. The two men greeted one another cordially. Charlotte sat down by her mother, preserving her composure so far as appearances went. 'I hear you have called to bid us good-by,' she said to Bervie. 'Is it to be a long absence?'

'I have got two months' leave,' the Captain answered, without looking at her while he spoke.

'Are you going abroad?'

'Yes. I think so.'

She turned away to her mother. Bervie seized the opportunity of speaking to Percy. 'I have a word of advice for your private ear.' At the same moment, Charlotte whispered to her mother: 'Don't encourage him to prolong his visit.'

The Captain showed no intention to prolong his visit. To Charlotte's surprise, when he took leave of the ladies, Percy also rose to go. 'His carriage,' he said, 'was waiting at the door; and he had offered to take Captain Bervie back to London.'

Charlotte instantly suspected an arrangement between the two men for a confidential interview. Her obstinate distrust of Bervie strengthened tenfold. She reluctantly gave him her hand, as he parted from her at the parlor-door. The effort of concealing her true feeling toward him gave a color and a vivacity to her face which made her irresistibly beautiful. Bervie looked at the woman whom he had lost with an immeasurable sadness in his eyes. 'When we meet again,' he said, 'you will see me in a new character.' He hurried out of the gate, as if he feared to trust himself for a moment longer in her presence.

Charlotte followed Percy into the passage. 'I shall be here to-morrow, dearest!' he said, and tried to raise her hand to his lips. She abruptly drew it away. 'Not that hand!' she answered. 'Captain Bervie has just touched it. Kiss the other!'

'Do you still doubt the Captain?' said Percy, amused by her petulance.

She put her arm over his shoulder, and touched the plaster on his neck gently with her finger. 'There's one thing I don't doubt,' she said: 'the Captain did that!'

Percy left her, laughing. At the front gate of the cottage he found Arthur Bervie in conversation with the same shabbily-dressed man-servant who had announced the Captain's visit to Charlotte.

'What has become of the other servant?' Bervie asked. 'I mean the old man who has been with Mr. Bowmore for so many years.'

'He has left his situation, sir.'

'Why?'

'As I understand, sir, he spoke disrespectfully to the master.'

'Oh! And how came the master to hear of you?'

'I advertised; and Mr. Bowmore answered my advertisement.'

Bervie looked hard at the man for a moment, and then joined Percy at the carriage door. The two gentlemen started for London.

'What do you think of Mr. Bowmore's new servant?' asked the Captain as they drove away from the cottage. 'I don't like the look of the fellow.'

'I didn't particularly notice him,' Percy answered.

There was a pause. When the conversation was resumed, it turned on common-place subjects. The Captain looked uneasily out of the carriage window. Percy looked uneasily at the Captain.

They had left Dartford about two miles behind them, when Percy noticed an old gabled house, sheltered by magnificent trees, and standing on an eminence well removed from the high-road. Carriages and saddle-horses were visible on the drive in front, and a flag was hoisted on a staff placed in the middle of the lawn.

'Something seems to be going on there,' Percy remarked. 'A fine old house! Who does it belong to?'

Bervie smiled. 'It belongs to my father,' he said. 'He is chairman of the bench of local magistrates, and he receives his brother justices to-day, to celebrate the opening of the sessions.'

He stopped and looked at Percy with some embarrassment. 'I am afraid I have surprised and disappointed you,' he resumed, abruptly changing the subject. 'I told you when we met just now at Mr. Bowmore's cottage that I had something to say to you; and I have not yet said it. The truth is, I don't feel sure whether I have been long enough your friend to take the liberty of advising you.'

'Whatever your advice is,' Percy answered, 'trust me to take it kindly on my side.'

Thus encouraged, the Captain spoke out.

'You will probably pass much of your time at the cottage,' he began, 'and you will be thrown a great deal into Mr. Bowmore's society. I have known him for many years. Speaking from that knowledge, I most seriously warn you against him as a thoroughly unprincipled and thoroughly dangerous man.'

This was strong language—and, naturally enough, Percy said so. The Captain justified his language.