I looked at the colonel. Whatever great wave of disappointment had
swept over him when his own idol was broken, there was no trace of it
in his face. Even the change this sudden influx of wealth into the
family might make in his own condition never seemed to have crossed
his mind. He did not follow her. He simply waited. Between his own
plans and his aunt's good fortune there was but one course for him.
The room took on the whispered silence of a court awaiting an overdue
jury. Fitz was still incredulous and still anxious, saying to me in
an undertone that he felt sure she would either refuse it altogether
or couple it with some conditions that the agent could not accept;
either would be fatal. Yancey and the judge, who had been partly
paralyzed at the rapidity of the transaction, conferred in a corner,
while the agent proceeded to make a copy of the proposition with as
much composure as if he bought a coal-mine every day. The colonel sat
by himself, his chair tilted back, his eyes half closed.
Pages:
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191