He had been frankly
predatory, and that plain, quiet girl his niece had been pleasant
company but no more. Now she was suddenly of the first importance.
She would in all probability inherit a considerable sum. How much
there might be in that black box under the bed one could not say,
but surely you could not be so relentless a miser for so long a
period without accumulating a very agreeable amount. Did the girl
realise that she would, perhaps, be rich? Uncle Mathew licked his
lips with his tongue. So quiet and self-possessed was she that you
could not tell what she was thinking. Were she only pretty she might
marry anybody. As it was, with that figure . . . But she was a good
girl. Uncle Mathew felt kind and tender-hearted towards her. He
would advise her about life of which he had had a very considerable
experience, and of which, of course, she knew nothing. His heart was
warm, although it would have been warmer still had he been able to
drink a glass of something before starting out.
"And what will you do now, my dear, do you think?" he asked.
They had left the deep lanes and struck across the hard-rutted
fields.
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