They were
determined to give him no chance either in court or before the public
opinion. It was a conspiracy . . . "My counsel was a fool too," he
added. "Did you notice? A perfect fool."
She laid her hand on his arm soothingly. "Is it worth while talking
about that awful time? It is so far away now." She shuddered slightly
at the thought of all the horrible years which had passed over her young
head; never guessing that for him the time was but yesterday. He folded
his arms on his breast, leaned back in his corner and bowed his head. But
in a little while he made her jump by asking suddenly:
"Who has got hold of the Lone Valley Railway? That's what they were
after mainly. Somebody has got it. Parfitts and Co. grabbed it--eh? Or
was it that fellow Warner . . . "
"I--I don't know," she said quite scared by the twitching of his lips.
"Don't know!" he exclaimed softly. Hadn't her cousin told her? Oh yes.
She had left them--of course. Why did she? It was his first question
about herself but she did not answer it. She did not want to talk of
these horrors.
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