The Evil Genius: A Domestic Story — page 181: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

170 THE EVIL GENIUS. between his brother’s visit to the club and his brother’s angry message. Had Herbert heard something said, among gossiping members in the smoking-room, which might account for his conduct? If Randal had belsnged to the club he would have gone there to make inquiries. How could he get the informa- tion that he wanted in some other way ? After considering for awhile, he remembered the dinner that he had given to his friend Sarrazin on his return from the United States, and the departure of the lawyer to his club, with a pur- pose in view which interested them both. It was the same club to which Herbert belonged. Randal wrote at once to Mr. Sar- razin, mentioning what had happened, and acknowledging the anxiety that weighed on his mind. Having instructed Malcolm to take the letter to the lawyer’s house, and, if he was not at home, to inquire where he might be found, Randal adopted the readiest means of composing himself, in the servant’s absence, by lighting his pipe. He was enveloped in clouds of tobacce-smoke—the only clouds which we can trust never to prove unworthy of our confidence in them—when Mrs. Presty’s letter caught his attention. If the month had been January instead of July, he would have thrown it a the fire. Under present circumstances he took it up and read it: ‘‘] bear no malice, dear Randal, and I write to you as affec- tionately as if you had kept your temper on the occasion when we last met. ‘* You will be pleased to hear that Catherine was as thoroughly distressed as you could wish her to be, when it became my dis- agreeable duty to mention what had passed between us, by way of accounting for your absence. She was quite unable to rally her spirits, even with dear Captain Bennydeck present to en- courage her. ‘**T am not receiving you as I ought,’ she said to him, when we began dinner, ‘ but there is, perhaps, some excuse for me. I have lost the regard and esteem of an old friend who has cru- elly wronged me.’ From motives of delicacy (which I don’t ex- pect you to understand) she refrained from mentioning your name. You still keep your place, your unmerited place, in the captain’s estimation. He asked no embarrassing questions; he was too exquisitely polite to attempt to insinuate himself into Catherine’s confidence. The prettiest answer that I ever heard was the answer that he addressed to her. ‘ Let the true friend,’ sald, ‘ take the place in your heart which the false friend has ost.’ ‘‘ He kissed her hand. If you hadseen how he did it, and how she looked at him, you would have felt that you had done more toward persuading my daughter to marry the captain than any other person about her, myself included. You had deserted her; you had thrown her back on the one friend left. Thank you, Randal. In our best interests, thank you. ‘It is needless to add that I got out of the way, and took Kitty with me, at the earliest opportunity—and left them by themselves. EONNICLOO)KS,eO