"There are some men capable of anything. But let us talk
no further on the subject. I have confided my secret to you, Jane
Payland, because I think you are faithfully devoted to my interests.
You know now why I am resolved to remain at Raynham Castle; and you
think my decision wise, do you not?"
"Well, yes; I certainly do, my lady," answered Jane, after some moments
of hesitation.
"And now leave me. Good night! I have kept you long this evening, I see
by that timepiece. But my thoughts were wandering, and I was
unconscious of the progress of time. Good night!"
Jane Payland took a respectful leave of her mistress, and departed,
absorbed in thought.
"Is she a good woman or a bad one?" she wondered, as she sat by the
fire in her own comfortable apartment. "If she is a bad woman, she's an
out-and-outer; for she looks one in the face, with those superb black
eyes of hers, as bright and clear as the image of truth itself. She
must be good and true. She must! And yet that night's absence, and that
story about Yarborough Tower--that seems too much for anybody on earth
to believe."
CHAPTER XIV.
A GHOSTLY VISITANT.
For nearly three years Thomas Milsom had been far away from London. He
had been arrested on a charge of burglary, within a month of Valentine
Jernam's death, and condemned to five years' transportation.
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