Burford Delannoy

“ Gerald was in a cold sweat of fear and horror. He knew the lawyer well enough to know that an appeal to his mercy would be wasted.
If he told the truth—that he did not know where the notes were—he would not be believed. If he did convince the lawyer, then what might happen?
At the fellow's mercy he might be killed, just as the man on the boat had been. Human life, he knew, was no sacred thing to the man who held him prisoner. ”

“ Mabel was playing a part: playing it well; wore her mask with success. Her laugh rang out merrily at each of Chantrelle's jokes. But just as full as her face and voice were of mirth, so was her heart full of ache and pain.
Mrs. Seton-Carr would have given worlds just then to be able to rise from her table; she needed so greatly to go to her room for a good cry. But a Lucifer-like pride upheld her. Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone. ”

“ He had a description of the perky, red haired, rough voiced, flashily dressed man who had left the boat at Queenstown, and he quite reckoned that when he saw Lawyer Loide he would—mentally—exclaim, "Thou art the man!"
With that melodramatic trait aforesaid, he no doubt would.
If he found it so, he would not betray the faintest sign of his knowledge. He must work quietly, and give his man no pretext for flight.
He must find where that nineteen thousand pounds was deposited, and draw the meshes of his net so closely around that the bird could not escape—anyway, with the money. ”

“ Masters uttered these words so fiercely that—in no way relieved—Dick said:
"Does it? Well then, Prince, old fellow, if you're so anxious about my future as all that, I'll relieve your anxiety. I can truthfully tell you that I have never set eyes on a girl yet that I should be at all likely to marry. Wine's been my trouble, not women."
Once more the black blood surged up; a curtain seemed to come up before Masters' eyes; a thick misty curtain blotting things out. But he knew he must keep his temper in hand; exhibit only calmness. He would gain more that way: for the child's sake—for her sake. ”

“ In astonishment she asked:
"Why do you stop? Is that all you can read?"
"No—no. But my belief—my faith—is shaken!"
Just a faint tremor in the voice—it was not unnoticed by him—as she asked:
"Faith? In what?"
He fenced. Did not like to shape words around what he thought he read. The truth is not always pleasant. So it was that he answered:
"Palmistry as a science."
The woman's voice was steadied again. There was a ring of merriment in it, ridiculing his seriousness, as she said—
"Why this shaken faith? Because of what you read in my hand?" ”

“ The trembling fingers of the farmer gripped the scissors, and he cut the twine. Then he tore off the brown paper and revealed—a piece of folded newspaper!
For a moment there was a silence, but in that moment a great change came over those present.
All the hilarity left Gerald. He stood looking at the packet with surely the whitest face that ever living man bore. The farmer's clouded to the pitch of blackness, and, bringing his hand down on the table with a force which made the crockery on the dresser ring again, he blurted out:
"What damned fool's game is this, anyhow?" ”

“ She smiled. Encouraged by it, he continued, in the same strain:
"You are always alone, yet you create the impression that you are happy. You don't seem to sigh for bands of music, to hanker after a crowded promenade. You find existence possible without a shoal of people to help you pass your time."
Her smile broadened into a laugh. This time at herself—at his description of her; she asked:
"And those—shall I call them unusual?—characteristics in a woman interest you?"
"Amazingly!"
"Why?"
She put the question with a little nervousness, bred of that eagerness of his. ”

“ If you want to live, pray that the rain may not come; if you want to die, pray that it may. When you feel that waterfall reaching you, then you may know that presently there will be force enough to turn the wheel, and that you will go round and round, faster and faster, now in the air, now in the water, now in the air, now in the water! ”

“ Their hostess's words were as the lashes of a whip.
Chantrelle muttered something about breaking the laws of hospitality; a weak effort to stand up for his sister. It failed half-way. Then he abandoned her to her fate.
"Take me away, Percy," his sister gasped. "I will not stay to be further insulted."
"Miss Chantrelle has forestalled me." Mrs. Seton-Carr still spoke quietly, still retained her seat. "That is precisely what I was about to ask you to do, Mr. Chantrelle. One can lock up from a thief, but a liar—a deliberate, scheming, unscrupulous liar—there is no guarding against. ”

“ She knew it would stun him. She had seen a man fall senseless—and remain senseless for an hour—on the occasion of a far less heavy weight falling on his head.
Ten minutes would suffice for her task, if he remained senseless as long.
She mapped out what she would do if the stone failed. She would drop from above, spring on him from behind, and half choke the life out of him with her strong, long, bony fingers.
Then she would bring him to again, when she had fastened him up. She did not want him to die—yet.
Before four o'clock, Gerald Danvers entered the mill. ”

“ The axe of common sense may be laid to the root of the tree; may cut it down root and branch. Still one small remaining tendril, hidden from the sight, will work its way into the heart; spread and grow until in its magnitude it overshadows every other thought. Such is love.
Masters reached the steps which led up from the sands to the seat. Standing at their base, he looked away in the direction of the sea. It was easy to mark the spot where Gracie had worked so hard with spade and pail. ”

“ I'm going to find Gerald Danvers, and tell him that a bigger old fool don't prowl about this airth than I am; and I'm going to beg him—d'ye hear—beg him to forgive me for insulting him."
"Dear father!"
"That's it, Tess. Because your old dad's a bit of a fool, you don't want to rub it in, do you? You leave that to your mother. Come here, girlie, and gimme a kiss."
"Lawd sakes, now! Just listen to the man! As if I'd said anything!"
"No, mother," said the farmer, over Tessie's shoulder—he was holding her to him—"it wouldn't be you to say anything. Silence is the kind of thing you shine in. ”

“ Do you expect me and Tessie to hang on to that axle?"
"What? Are you going?"
"Am I? I reckon. If you think, George Depew, that you are going to career around the streets of N'York, bulging money at every pocket, with nary a sensible soul to look after you, let me tell you, you make a mistake."
"But, mother dear," said Tessie; "you will never be ready. The train goes in twenty minutes, and you will never have time to change your dress."
"Won't I? Sakes alive! You've known me for nigh on nineteen years, and you don't know your mother yet." ”

“ In her nervousness felt that whilst her tongue was in action it would help to keep the helm the right way; said:
"Why should you? A stranger's opinion would necessarily be valueless. You know nothing of me."
The deafness of those who will not hear is proverbial. The underlying earnestness in the tone of his reply should have warned her.
"Aren't you going just a trifle too far?" he asked. "We are not quite strangers. True, I know nothing of you—except that you are Miss Mivvins."
An irresistible smile accompanied his words. His smile—and his laugh too—were capable of creating many friends. ”

“ CHAPTER XIX PLAYING THE SPY When the child had passed all the signposts on the road of convalescence, had reached perfect health, Masters ceased his visits to the bungalow. His interest in Gracie induced him not to avoid meeting her on the front.
The child was all warmth and affection and love for the man she was going to marry. The mother hid her aching heart behind a smile: a woman's usual veil. It was not what a novelist describes as a sad sweet smile; it had degenerated into an hysterical, jerky, clattering, little laugh. ”

“ He guessed that it would be a noiseless weapon, perhaps a knife, and a feeling of wonder stole over him, wonder of how it would feel as the knife sheathed itself in his heart.
No feeling of fear, not a scrap; he would welcome it. It would end the pain. And then he prayed. ”

“ Miss Chantrelle had the watchful, veiled eyes of the domestic cat. On the principle of striking the iron whilst hot, she urged her brother to propose marriage to their hostess forthwith. Thought that delays were dangerous.
She took him out for a walk to discuss the pros and cons of the proposal. Was a wise little woman, and a firm believer in the theory that walls have ears. Knowing what she knew, she mapped out the route her brother was to travel in his journey to Mrs. Seton-Carr's heart.
But there is such a thing as being too clever: so sharp that one cuts oneself. ”

“ The lawyer, who had guessed something of what had happened, judiciously left them together for a few minutes.
Mrs. Depew carried out her threat; she walked straight over to Gerald, and gave him what she called a "smack."
"You, Gerald," she said, "I'm as real pleased to see you as I am to see the snow go away in winter. I believed in you, my lad, from the first, and if I've got an old fool for a husband, remember that he is only an old fool, and there's no scrap of real bad in him—that he's as good a husband, and as good a father as ever stepped in shoes." ”

“ With the courage to fight this drink devil for life or death, for all I am worth."
[pg 180] "And, please God, conquer him, Dick!"
"And what about yourself, little woman? Have you been ill? You look worn out, worn and thinner. You haven't been worrying about me?"
"No, Dick; about Grace. She has been ill; dying once, I thought, but thank God she is as well to-day as ever she was."
"Our little Gracie has been as ill as all that? Poor little soul! And I've been drinking from morning till night, selfish brute that I am, without any thought for you or her. Good God! Why was I born—answer me that?" ”