could let things go on as fate had shaped them thus far.

And there was her little boy, too, who was very precious to her. She
would be disinheriting him, which she had no right to do. It was all
horribly mixed up! Adelle did not get much sleep that night.

XXXIX

Although she had made up her mind not to tell her secret to any one at
present, Adelle could not refrain from looking up the stone mason the
first thing in the morning. She seemed to be attracted to him as the
moth is to the proverbial flame, all the more after her new
understanding of the situation between them. And she was also
apprehensive of what Archie might be up to. If he were violent, and the
two men had another quarrel, she might be forced to declare the truth,
which she didn't want to do this morning.

Therefore, she felt relieved to find that Tom Clark was not at his post
on the wall. She asked no questions of Mr. Ferguson. And morning after
morning she was both disappointed and relieved when she went to the wall
and found his place still empty. The foreman had not put other masons to
work there, but continued the work at a different point. She asked him
no questions. Perhaps her cousin had left voluntarily in disgust with
Highcourt. She even went up the hill one morning and found his little
shack closed. Peeking through the windows she perceived his trunk and
kitty-bag in their place, with his old shoes and clothes beside them. So
he intended to come back! Again she was both pleased and frightened. The
return would mean complications. She must make up her mind definitely
whether she should tell him the secret. She felt a strong impulse to do
so and take the consequences. And there was Archie, with whom she had
not exchanged a dozen words since the scene on the hill. It was quite
the longest quarrel that they had ever had and wearing to them both. So
it went for nearly a week.

And then one morning, as she was passing heedlessly along the terrace,
she heard a man's voice which was familiar, and peering over the great
wall, saw Tom Clark below at his accustomed post. He caught sight of the
mistress of Highcourt, and bobbed his head shamefacedly. After a time
she came to him through the canon, but he pretended not to see her. She
knew that he was ashamed of himself for something he had done--she
wondered what--probably drinking. He looked a trifle paler than usual
and very red-eyed. He acted like a puppy that knows perfectly well it
has