Who was this Pike, he wondered as he went along; as he had wondered
before now. When the man was off his guard, the roughness of his speech
and demeanour was not so conspicuous; and the tone assumed a certain
refinement that seemed to say he had some time been in civilized society.
Again, how did he live? A tale was told in Calne of Pike's having been
disturbed at supper one night by a parcel of rude boys, who had seen him
seated at a luxurious table; hot steak and pudding before him. They were
not believed, certainly; but still Pike must live; and how did he find
the means to do so? Why did he live there at all? what had caused him to
come to Calne? Who--
These reflections might have lasted all the way home but for an
interruption that drove every thought out of Lord Hartledon's mind, and
sent the heart's blood coursing swiftly through his veins. Turning a
corner of the dark winding path, he came suddenly upon a lady seated on a
bench, so close to the narrow path that he almost touched her in passing.
She seemed to have sat down for a moment to do something to her hat,
which was lying in her lap, her hands busied with it.
A faint cry escaped her, and she rose up. It was caused partly by
emotion, partly by surprise at seeing him, for she did not know he was
within a hundred miles of the place. And very probably she would have
liked to box her own ears for showing any.
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