see him throw the stone over
into a turnip field, and walk rapidly off in the opposite direction to
the Priory gates.

CHAPTER XLII.

THE THREE FACES AT THE WINDOW.

Late in the afternoon Ezra arrived at the Priory. From one of the
passage windows Kate saw him driving up the avenue in a high dog-cart.
There was a broad-shouldered, red-bearded man sitting beside him, and
the ostler from the _Flying Bull_ was perched behind. Kate had rushed
to the window on hearing the sound of wheels, with some dim expectation
that her friends had come sooner than she anticipated. A glance,
however, showed her that the hope was vain. From behind a curtain she
watched them alight and come into the house, while the trap wheeled
round and rattled off for Bedsworth again.

She went slowly back to her room, wondering what friend this could be
whom Ezra had brought with him. She had noticed that he was roughly
clad, presenting a contrast to the young merchant, who was vulgarly
spruce in his attire. Evidently he intended to pass the night at the
Priory, since they had let the trap go back to the village. She was
glad that he had come, for his presence would act as a restraint upon
the Girdlestones. In spite of her guardian's amiability at breakfast,
she could not forget the words which he had used the morning before or
the incident of the poison bottle. She was as convinced as ever that he
meant mischief to her, but she had ceased to fear him. It never for one
moment occurred to her that her guardian's machinations might come to a
head before her rescuers could arrive.

As the long afternoon stole away she became more and more impatient and
expectant. She had been sewing in her room, but she found that she
could no longer keep her attention on the stitches. She paced nervously
up and down the little apartment. In the room beneath she could hear
the dull muffled sound of men's voices in a long continuous monotone,
broken only by the interposition now and again of one voice which was so
deep and loud that it reminded her of the growl of a beast of prey.
This must belong to the red-bearded stranger. Kate wondered what it
could be that they were talking over so earnestly. City affairs, no
doubt, or other business matters of importance. She remembered having
once heard it remarked that many of the richest men on 'Change were
eccentric and slovenly in their dress, so the new-comer might be a more
important person than he s