human
And we might go there in the evening to look,
gpt
My dear, I should think that the Manor was hateful to you.
human
Well, it is. Even if I do inherit it from Mrs. Vand, I can never live there, Cyril. But I want you to come with me this evening, as I have a kind of idea that the body of Mrs. Vand --she grew pale and shuddered--
gpt
My dear girl, you must be mad!
human
No, I am not, Cyril. Think of how she is being hunted, and how her person is described everywhere, while all the ports and stations are watched. I believe that she, poor woman! went to see her lawyer, so as to prove her sorrow for having misjudged me, by making me her heiress, and that she then returned to die amidst the corn.
gpt
Do you think she is dead there?
human
Perhaps yes, perhaps no. Granny Tunks is still in the hut, and she is very avaricious. Mrs. Vand had money. She may have bribed Granny to bring her food while she lay hid among the corn.
gpt
But such a hiding-place!
human
A very good one and a place where no one would think of looking. Think how thick the corn is growing! No one ever enters it, and that scarlet coated scarecrow stands sentinel over it. Believe me, Cyril, Mrs. Vand has been hiding there. I wish you to come with me this evening. They have started to reap the corn by order of Mr. Timson. If Mrs. Vand is there, she will in the end be discovered. Let us find her, and save her, and get her out of the kingdom.
gpt
That will bring us within reach of the law.
human
I don't care, said Bella, quite recklessly;
gpt
But Bella, she never liked you.
human
What has that got to do with it? cried the girl passionately.
gpt
Our natures did not suit one another, and perhaps I behaved rather harshly towards her. She meant well. And remember, Cyril, she has made amends by leaving me all that would have been mine had I really been Captain Huxham's daughter.
human
I admit that she has done her best to repent, he said after a pause,
gpt
And help her to escape?
human
Yes. It won't be easy; but I'll do my best.
gpt
That's my own dear boy, said the girl, kissing him,
human
A verdict of death by drowning has been brought in, said Cyril quickly.
gpt
I think if we can get Mrs. Vand away, everything concerning the Huxham mystery will be at an end.
human
They won't put the whole story in the papers, Cyril?
gpt
No. Inglis will edit all that is to be given to the reporters and journalists. He will say as little as possible about the matter. It is known that Huxham was murdered by Vand, and in the absence of my father's body no cognisance can be taken of that alleged murder.
human
Don't you believe that your father has been murdered?
gpt
I don't know; I can't tell. Tunks says so, and I don't suppose he would tell such a story against himself unless it were true. But no body has been found, and until the body of the missing man is found, it is presumed in law that he is alive. But --Cyril shrugged his shoulders--
human
It will be made manifest in time, said Bella firmly;
gpt
In Marshely churchyard to-morrow. I shall go to the funeral. I am sorry for Durgo. In spite of his skin he was a real white man. And when he is under the earth, Bella, I think we had better sell the jewels and marry, and take a trip round the world in order to forget all this terrible business. I am quite glad it is over.
human
It is not over yet, insisted Bella,
gpt
Or their bodies,