Chapter 12

A FAMILY JAR.

And so the great secret was out, and Robert walked home with his head in
a whirl, and the blood tingling in his veins. He had shivered as he
came up at the damp cold of the wind and the sight of the mist-mottled
landscape. That was all gone now. His own thoughts tinged everything
with sunshine, and he felt inclined to sing and dance as he walked down
the muddy, deeply-rutted country lane. Wonderful had been the fate
allotted to Raffles Haw, but surely hardly less important that which had
come upon himself. He was the sharer of the alchemist's secret, and the
heir to an inheritance which combined a wealth greater than that of
monarchs, to a freedom such as monarchs cannot enjoy. This was a
destiny indeed! A thousand gold-tinted visions of his future life rose
up before him, and in fancy he already sat high above the human race,
with prostrate thousands imploring his aid, or thanking him for his
benevolence.

How sordid seemed the untidy garden, with its scrappy bushes and gaunt
elm trees! How mean the plain brick front, with the green wooden porch!
It had always offended his artistic sense, but now it was obtrusive in
its ugliness. The plain room, too, with the American leather chairs,
the dull-coloured carpet, and the patchwork rug, he felt a loathing for
it all. The only pretty thing in it, upon which his eyes could rest
with satisfaction, was his sister, as she leaned back in her chair by
the fire with her white, clear beautiful face outlined against the dark
background.

"Do you know, Robert," she said, glancing up at him from under her long
black lashes, "Papa grows unendurable. I have had to speak very plainly
to him, and to make him understand that I am marrying for my own benefit
and not for his."

"Where is he, then?"

"I don't know. At the Three Pigeons, no doubt. He spends most of his
time there now. He flew off in a passion, and talked such nonsense
about marriage settlements, and forbidding the banns, and so on. His
notion of a marriage settlement appears to be a settlement upon the
bride's father. He should wait quietly, and see what can be done for
him."

"I think, Laura, that we must make a good deal of allowance for him,"
said Robert earnestly. "I have noticed a great change in him lately.
I don't think he is himself at all. I must get some medical advice.
But I have been up at the Hall this morning."

"Have you? Have you seen Raffles? Did he send anything for me?"

"He said that he would come down when he had finished his work."

"But what is the matter, Robert?" cried Laura, with the swift perception
of womanhood. "You are flushed, and