"I am going to ride to Belle Plain with you, Miss Malroy," he
said, as he lifted her into her saddle.
"Do you think it necessary?" she asked, but she did not look at
him.
"I hope not. I'll keep a bit in advance," he added, as he
mounted his horse, and all Betty saw of him during their ride of
five miles was his broad back. At the entrance to Belle Plain he
reined in his horse.
"I reckon it's all right, now," he said briefly.
"You will return at once to Mr. Norton?" she asked. He nodded.
"And you will not leave him while he is helpless?"
"No, I'll not leave him," said Carrington, giving her a steady
glance.
"I am so glad, I--his friends will feel so much safer with you
there. I will send over in the morning to learn how he passed
the night. Good-by, Mr. Carrington." And still refusing to meet
his eyes, she gave him her hand.
But Carrington did not quit the mouth of the lane until she had
crossed between the great fields of waving corn, and he had seen
her pass up the hillside beyond to the oak grove, where the four
massive chimneys of Belle Plain house showed their gray stone
copings among the foliage. With this last glimpse of her he
turned away.
CHAPTER XXI
THICKET POINT
It WAS a point with Mr. Ware to see just as little as possible of
Betty. He had no taste for what he called female chatter. A
sane interest in the price of cotton or pork he considered the
only rational test of human intelligence, and Betty evinced
entire indifference where those great staples were concerned,
hence it was agreeable to him to have most of his meals served in
his office.
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