If either, he was
piling up trouble, should he be discovered.
On leaving the Old Swan, I went back to the palace and met Frances at the
Holbein Gate, cloaked and bonneted, ready to go to see her father.
I offered to accompany her, and we took a coach at Charing Cross for Sir
Richard's house.
My conscience had troubled me because I had done nothing to clear
Hamilton of her unjust suspicions. Up to that time I had found no
opportunity to speak to her privately after my return from Sheerness,
nor had I fully made up my mind to try to convince her that George was
not guilty of Roger's death. But when she and I entered the coach to go
to her father's house, I broached the subject:--
"You remember, cousin," I began, "what I said to you in Hamilton's
presence on the Bourne Path?"
"Every word," she replied. "It was all true, and I shall be grateful so
long as I live."
"But what I said at that time did not seem to cause you to hate him?" I
continued, wondering what her reply would be.
"No," she answered, with slight hesitancy. "It did not."
"Is the aversion you now feel toward him the result of what I said at
that time?" I asked.
"No, no," she returned quickly. Then suddenly checking herself, she
demanded, "Why do you speak of my aversion to him, and what do you know
about it?"
I told her that I knew all the particulars of her meeting with Hamilton
at the Old Swan, of her refusal to recognize him and of the fight that
ensued.
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