'
Somehow I had never thought of Martyn. He had simply seemed to me a
boy, and I had decided that Anne would be the crown of Clarence's
labours. I answered 'Nonsense; they are both children together!'
'The nonsense was elsewhere,' he said. 'They always were devoted to
each other. I saw how it was the moment he came into the room.'
'Don't give up,' I said; 'it is only the old habit. When she knows
all, she must prefer--'
'Hush!' he said. 'An old scarecrow and that beautiful young
creature!' and he laughed.
'You won't be an old scarecrow long.'
'No,' he said in an ominous way, and cut short the discussion by
going back to Mrs. Fordyce.
He was worn out, had a bad night, and did not get up to breakfast; I
was waiting for it in the sitting-room, when Mr. Fordyce came in
after matins with Emily and Martyn.
'I feel just like David when they brought him the water of
Bethlehem,' he said. 'You know I think this all nonsense,
especially this--this ghost business; and yet, such--such doings as
your brother's can't go for nothing.'
His face worked, and the tears were in his eyes; then, as he partook
of our breakfast, he cross-examined us on my statement, and even
tried to persuade us that the phantom in the ruin was Emily; and on
her observing that she could not have seen herself, he talked of the
Brocken Spectre and fog mirages; but we declared the night was
clear, and I told him that all the rational theories I had ever
heard were far more improbable than the appearance herself, at which
he laughed.
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