It was some time longer before she was called. Mr. Tredgold had got up; he had made his toilet, and gone down to his sitting-room, which communicated with his bedroom by a little private staircase. And it was only when he was there that his eyes fell on his clock, and he cried with a start:
“Half-past twelve, and I just come downstairs! What does this mean--what does it mean? Why wasn’t I called at the right time?”
“You had a--a restless night, sir,” said the man, trembling. (“Oh, where’s that Miss Katherine, where’s that young person,” he said to himself.)
“A restless night! And why had I a restless night? No supper, eh? Never eat supper now. Girls won’t let me. Hollo! I begin to remember. Wasn’t there an alarm of burglars? And none of you heard, you deaf fools; nobody but me, an old man! I let go one barrel at them, eh? Enough to send them all flying. Great fun that. And then Katherine, Katherine--what do I remember about Katherine? Stopped me before I could do anything, saying there was nobody. Fool, to mind what she said; quite sure there was somebody, eh? Can’t you tell me what it was?”
“Don’t know, indeed, sir,” said the man, whose teeth were chattering with fear.
“Don’t know, indeed! You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Speak out, you fool. Was it burglars----”
“No, sir. I think not, sir. I--don’t know what it was, sir. Something about Miss---- about Miss----”
“Oh, sir, have a little patience--it’s all right, it’s all right, sir--just Miss Stella, sir, that--that is all right, sir--all safe, sir,” the attendant cried.
Old Tredgold sat upright in his chair; he put his elbows on the table to support his head. “Miss Stella!” he said with a sudden hoarseness in his voice.
And then the man rushed out to summon Katherine, who came quietly but trembling to the call.
He uncovered his face as she came in. It was ghastly pale, the two gleaming points of the eyes glimmering out of it like the eyes of a wild beast. “Stella, Stella!” he said hoarsely, and, seizing Katherine by the arm, pressed her down upon a low chair close to him. “What’s all this cock and a bull story?” he said.
He seized her again and shook her in his fury. “Speak out or I’ll--I’ll kill you,” he said.
Her arm was crushed as in an iron vice. Body and soul she trembled before him. “Papa, let me go or I can say nothing! Let me go!”