Page 304 - for-the-term-of-his-natural-life

lence, was so far above him, that in raising his eyes to her,
he lost sight of all the sordid creatures to whose level he had
once debased himself, and had come in part to regard the
sins he had committed, before his redemption by the love of
this bright young creature, as evil done by him under a past
condition of existence, and for the consequences of which
he was not responsible. One of the consequences, however,
was very close to him at this moment. His convict servant
had, according to his instructions, sat up for him, and as he
entered, the man handed him a letter, bearing a superscrip-
tion in a female hand.
‘Who brought this?’ asked Frere, hastily tearing it open
to read. ‘The groom, sir. He said that there was a gentleman
at the ‘George the Fourth’ who wished to see you.’
Frere smiled, in admiration of the intelligence which had
dictated such a message, and then frowned in anger at the
contents of the letter. ‘You needn’t wait,’ he said to the man.
‘I shall have to go back again, I suppose.’
Changing his forage cap for a soft hat, and selecting a
stick from a miscellaneous collection in a corner, he pre-
pared to retrace his steps. ‘What does she want now?’ he
asked himself fiercely, as he strode down the moonlit road;
but beneath the fierceness there was an under-current of
petulance, which implied that, whatever ‘she’ did want, she
had a right to expect.
The ‘George the Fourth’ was a long low house, situated
in Elizabeth Street. Its front was painted a dull red, and the
narrow panes of glass in its windows, and the ostentatious
affectation of red curtains and homely comfort, gave to it a

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