"So Sister Theresa's ill!" I began, seeing that Bates
had nearly finished, and glancing with something akin
to terror upon the open pages of a dreary work on English
cathedrals that had put me to sleep the day before.
"She's been quite uncomfortable, sir; but they hope
to see her out in a few days!"
"That's good; I'm glad to hear it."
"Yes, sir. I think we naturally feel interested, being
neighbors. And Ferguson says that Miss Devereux's devotion
to her aunt is quite touching."
I stood up straight and stared at Bates' back-he was
trying to stop the rattle which the wind had set up in
one of the windows.
"Miss Devereux!" I laughed outright.
"That's the name, sir,-rather odd, I should call it."
"Yes, it is rather odd," I said, composed again, but
not referring to the name. My mind was busy with a
certain paragraph in my grandfather's will: Should he fail to comply with this provision, said property
shall revert to my general estate, and become, without
reservation, and without necessity for any process of
law, the property, absolutely, of Marian Devereux, of the
County and State of New York.
"Your grandfather was very fond of her, sir. She
and Sister Theresa were abroad at the time he died. It
was my sorrowful duty to tell them the sad news in New
York, sir, when they landed."
"The devil it was!" It irritated me to remember that
Bates probably knew exactly the nature of my grandfather's
will; and the terms of it were not in the least
creditable to me. Sister Theresa and her niece were
doubtless calmly awaiting my failure to remain at
Glenarm House during the disciplinary year,-Sister
Theresa, a Protestant nun, and the niece who probably
taught drawing in the school for her keep! I was sure
it was drawing; nothing else would, I felt, have brought
the woman within the pale of my grandfather's beneficence.
I had given no thought to Sister Theresa since coming
to Glenarm. She had derived her knowledge of me
from my grandfather, and, such being the case, she
would naturally look upon me as a blackguard and a
menace to the peace of the neighborhood. I had, therefore,
kept rigidly to my own side of the stone wall. A
suspicion crossed my mind, marshaling a host of doubts
and questions that had lurked there since my first night
at Glenarm.
"Bates!"
He was moving toward the door with his characteristic
slow step.
"If your friend Morgan, or any one else, should shoot
me, or if I should tumble into the lake, or otherwise end
my earthly career-Bates!"
His eyes had slipped from mine to the window and I
spoke his name sharply.
"Yes, Mr. Glenarm."
"Then Sister Theresa's niece would get this property
and everything else that belonged to Mr. Glenarm."
"That's my understanding of the matter, sir."