"
"He has disappeared!" exclaimed Victor Carrington; "he is not dead?"
"I know nothing but that he has disappeared. We missed him in the midst
of the hunt. We returned to the rectory in the evening, expecting to
find him there."
"Did _you_ expect that, Eversleigh?"
"Others did, at any rate."
"And did you not find him ?"
"No. We left the house, after a brief delay, to seek for him; I among
the others. We were to ride by different roads; to make inquiries of
every kind; to obtain information from every source. My brain was
dazed. I let my horse take his own road."
"Fool! coward!" exclaimed Victor Harrington, with mingled scorn and
anger. "And you have abandoned your work; you have come here to waste
your time, when you should seem most active in the search--most eager
to find the missing man. Reginald Eversleigh, from first to last you
have trifled with me. You are a villain; but you are a hypocrite. You
would have the reward of guilt, and yet wear the guise of innocence,
even before me; as if it were possible to deceive one who has read you
through and through. I am tired of this trifling; I am weary of this
pretended innocence; and to-night I ask you, for the last time, to
choose the path which you mean to tread; and, once chosen, to tread it
with a firm step, prepared to meet danger--to confront destiny. This
very hour, this very moment, I call upon you to make your decision; and
it shall be a final decision.
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