"
"Did he send you out by yourself, at this late hour, in the boat?"
"They were waiting for a sack of flour down there," she replied, pointing
in the direction of the river-side village. "Father isn't as quick as he
used to be. He's often late over his work now."
Was there no one to give Giles Toller the help that he must need at his
age? "Do you and your father really live alone in this solitary place?" I
said.
A change of expression appeared in her bright brown eyes which roused my
curiosity. I also observed that she evaded a direct reply. "What makes
you doubt, sir, if father and I live alone?" she asked.
I pointed to the new cottage. "That ugly building," I answered, "seems to
give you more room than you want--unless there is somebody else living at
the mill."
I had no intention of trying to force the reply from her which she had
hitherto withheld; but she appeared to put that interpretation on what I
had said. "If you will have it," she burst out, "there is somebody else
living with us."
"A man who helps your father?"
"No. A man who pays my father's rent."
I was quite unprepared for such a reply as this: Cristel had surprised
me. To begin with, her father was "well-connected," as we say in England.
His younger brother had made a fortune in commerce, and had vainly
offered him the means of retiring from the mill with a sufficient income.
Then again, Giles Toller was known to have saved money.
Pages:
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34