"Did you like Miss Saul, mother?" he asked.
"I only saw her on the concert platform," said Mrs. Mallow,
opening her eyes, "gracious, Cuthbert, I never associated
myself with those sort of people. Caranby was infatuated with
her. To be sure, he got engaged to spite Selina, and she
really did treat him badly, but I believe Miss Saul--such a
horrid Hebrew name, isn't it--hypnotized him. He forgot her
almost as soon as she died, in spite of his ridiculous idea of
shutting up that house. And such valuable land as there is at
Rexton too. Well, I hope this violent death of Selina will be
a warning to Caranby. Not that I wish him any harm, in spite
of your being next heir to the title, and we do need money."
While Mrs. Mallow rambled on in this diffusive manner,
Cuthbert was thinking. When she ended, "Why should this death
be a warning to Caranby?" he asked quickly.
"Good gracious, Cuthbert, don't get on my nerves. Why?--
because I believe that Selina pushed Miss Saul off that
plank and killed her. She was just the kind of violent girl
who would do a thing like that. And Miss Saul's relatives have
waited all these years to kill Selina, and now she's dead,
they will kill Caranby because he did not marry the wretched
girl."
Cuthbert stared. "Mother, what are you talking about?
Caranby told me that Miss Saul had only one brother, and that
probably he was dead."
"Ah," said Mrs. Mallow, "he didn't tell you that Miss Saul's
father was arrested for coining or passing false money, I
forget which.
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