She turned them over till she came to the first heading connected with the subject of her search--'Disastrous Fire and Loss of Life at Carriford.' The sight, and its calamitous bearing upon her own life, made her so dizzy that she could, for a while, hardly decipher the letters.
Stifling recollection by an effort she nerved herself to her work, and carefully read the column. The account reminded her of no other fact than was remembered already.
She turned on to the following week's report of the inquest. After a miserable perusal she could find no more pertaining to Mrs.
Manston's address than this:-'ABRAHAM BROWN, of Hoxton, London, at whose house the deceased woman had been living, deposed,' etc.
Nobody else from London had attended the inquest. She arose to depart, first sending a message of thanks to Mr. Raunham, who was out of doors gardening.
He stuck his spade into the ground, and accompanied her to the gate.
'Can I help you in anything, Cytherea?' he said, using her Christian name by an intuition that unpleasant memories might be revived if he called her Miss Graye after wishing her good-bye as Mrs. Manston at the wedding. Cytherea saw the motive and appreciated it, nevertheless replying evasively-'I only guess and fear.' He earnestly looked at her again.
'Promise me that if you want assistance, and you think I can give it, you will come to me.' 'I will,' she said.
The gate closed between them.
'You don't want me to help you in anything now, Cytherea?' he repeated.
If he had spoken what he felt, 'I want very much to help you, Cytherea, and have been watching Manston on your account,' she would gladly have accepted his offer. As it was, she was perplexed, and raised her eyes to his, not so fearlessly as before her trouble, but as modestly, and with still enough brightness in them to do fearful execution as she said over the gate-'No, thank you.' She returned to Tolchurch weary with her day's work. Owen's greeting was anxious-'Well, Cytherea?' She gave him the words from the report of the inquest, pencilled on a slip of paper.
'Now to find out the name of the street and number,' Owen remarked.
'Owen,' she said, 'will you forgive me for what I am going to say?
I don't think I can--indeed I don't think I can--take any further steps towards disentangling the mystery. I still think it a useless task, and it does not seem any duty of mine to be revenged upon Mr.
Manston in any way.' She added more gravely, 'It is beneath my dignity as a woman to labour for this; I have felt it so all day.' 'Very well,' he said, somewhat shortly; 'I shall work without you then. There's dignity in justice.' He caught sight of her pale tired face, and the dilated eye which always appeared in her with weariness. 'Darling,' he continued warmly, and kissing her, 'you shall not work so hard again--you are worn out quite. But you must let me do as I like.' 2. MARCH THE TENTH On Saturday evening Graye hurried off to Casterbridge, and called at the house of the reporter to the Chronicle. The reporter was at home, and came out to Graye in the passage. Owen explained who and what he was, and asked the man if he would oblige him by turning to his notes of the inquest at Carriford in the December of the year preceding the last--just adding that a family entanglement, of which the reporter probably knew something, made him anxious to ascertain some additional details of the event, if any existed.