按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
the best of every－thing in their house，but they're very careful with their money．’
The farrier，a small man with a sharp face，always enjoyed disagreeing with the butcher．‘Mr Godfrey marry Miss Nancy！’he laughed．‘That's what you think！Haven't you noticed how Miss Nancy has changed towards Godfrey since last year？You remember，he was away from home，for days and days．Nobody knows what he was doing，but Godfrey hasn't been the same since then．Miss Nancy isn't stupid—she won't marry a man she can't trust！’
The landlord always tried to prevent his customers from ar…guing．‘What you all say is very true．But let's hope that Mr Godfrey doesn't lose his chance of marrying Miss Nancy．’
Meanwhile，at the Red House，Godfrey Cass was waiting for his brother in the sitting－room，with a very worried expression on his handsome face．Soon the door opened，and a heavy…look…ing young man entered．It was Dunstan．He had clearly been drinking．
‘How I hate him！'thought Godfrey．
‘Well，sir，'said Dunstan unpleasantly，‘you sent for me，and as you're the oldest，and you'll be the Squire one day，I have to obey you．So what do you want？’
‘Just listen，will you？'replied Godfrey angrily，‘if you aren't too drunk to understand！You must pay me back the money I lent you last month．You know I got it from Fowler，of Church Farm．He owed the money to the Squire，and asked me to give it to him．Now the Squire is angry with Fowler for not paying，and I've got to give the money back！’
Dunstan came close to Godfrey and smiled in an evil way．‘Well，my dear kind brother，why don't you find the money yourself？That would be much less trouble for me！’
Godfrey controlled himself with difficulty．‘Don't smile at me like that，or I'll hit you！’
‘Oh no，you won't，answered Dunstan．‘Because if you do，I'll tell the Squire your secret．I'll tell him that his handsome eldest son fell in love with that poor girl Molly in the town，and married her in a hurry．The Squire'll be angry because you married her in secret，and he'll disinherit you．Then I'll get the house and land when the old man dies！But don't worry，I'm a good brother to you．I won't tell him，and you'll find the money to pay back，I know you will．’
‘Where can I get the money from？’cried Godfrey．‘I tell you，I haven't got any！’
‘You could borrow It，'said Dunstan carelessly．‘Or wait…I've had a better idea．You could sell your horse．’
‘Sell Wildfire！You know how muchl love that horse！’
‘Well，you could ride him to the hunt tomorrow．I know two or three men who'd be interested in buying him，and they'll be at the hunt，I'm sure．It'd be easy．’
‘No，I haven't got time to go hunting tomorrow．I…I'm going to Mrs Osgood's birthday dance．’
‘Aha！'said Dunstan，laughing．‘And perhaps you'll see sweet Miss Nancy there—and you'll dance with her－and you'll talk of love…’
‘Be quiet！'shouted Godfrey，his face turning red．‘Don't speak of Miss Nancy like that，or I'll kill you！’
‘Don't get so angry，brother，’answered Dunstan calmly．‘You've got a very good chance with her．In fact，I advise you to be nice to her．You and I know that Molly's started drink ing．Well，if she drinks too much one day and dies，then you could marry Nancy．She wouldn't mind being a second wife，if she didn't know there was a first．And luckily you've got a kind brother who'll keep your secret well．’
Godfrey's face was white now，and he was trembling．‘Look，Dunstan，I've nearly had enough of this．You can push a man too far，you know．Perhaps I'll go to the Squire now and confess everything to him．He'll discover the truth one day，because Molly says she'll come and tell him．She wants every－one to know we re married．When the Squire knows the truth，you won't get any more money from me！’
Dunstan replied lightly，‘Do what you like，brother．’
Godfrey hesitated．He knew he had fallen into Dunstan's trap，when he made the mistake of marrying Molly．It was Dunstan who had Introduced his brother to Molly，hoping that Godfrey would fall in love and marry her．Dunstan was clearly delighted that his evil plan had succeeded．Godfrey was now in a difficult situation．He no longer loved his young wife，and could not stop thinking of Nancy Lammeter．He felt sure that with Nancy as his wife he would not need to have secrets，and could be open and honest with everybody．But for the moment he had to give Dunstan whatever he wanted，keep Molly happy，and lie to his father and his friends．If he told his father the truth，the situation would become impossible．The Squire would disinherit him and he would be just a poor working man for the rest of his life．And far worse than that，he would lose any hope of marrying Nancy．No！He could not accept that．He would find the money for Dunstan，and wait for the situa－tion to get better．Living with fear in his heart，the fear of be－ing discovered，was better than living without Nancy's love．
He turned to Dunstan．‘It's just like you to talk of selling Wildfire—the best horse I've ever had！’
‘Let me sell him for you…you know I'm good at buying and selling．I can ride him to the hunt for you tomorrow，and bring you back the money．But you must decide．You lent me that money，and you'll have to pay it back to the Squire．So it's your problem，not mine！’
Godfrey thought for a moment．‘All right，’he said．‘But make sure you bring me back all the money，Dunstan！’
The next morning，as Dunstan was riding Wildfire out of Rav－eloe，he passed the old quarry．All the stone had been taken out of it and it was no longer used；now all that was left was a deep hole full of reddish water．Opposite the quarry was Silas Marn－er's cottage．Dunstan suddenly had an idea．‘Everybody in Raveloe talks of the weaver's money—he must have a lot hid－den away in that cottage！Why doesn't Godfrey borrow some money from him，and pay him back when he becomes the Squire？’He wondered whether to go back to the Red House at once，to tell Godfrey about this wonderful idea of his，but he did not want to miss the hunt，so he decided to continue on his way．
At the hunt he met several friends and neighbours，and be fore the hunt started he managed to sell Wildfire for a good price．The money would be paid when he brought the horse to the neighbour's house later that day．Dunstan knew it would be safer to take the horse there immediately，so that he could be sure of receiving the money．But he was confident that he could take care of Wildfire during the hunt，and so，after a glass or two of whisky，he joined the other riders in the fields．This time，however，he was not as lucky as usual，and horse and rid…er fell while jumping a gate．Dunstan got up，shaken but unhurt，but poor Wildfire's back was broken，and in a few mo－ments he died．
Dunstan looked around，and was glad to see that no other riders had noticed his accident．He did not want people to think he was a bad rider．He did not care much about Wildfire，be－cause he thought he now had a much better plan to offer God－frey．The worst thing was that he would have to walk home，something he was not at all used to do