"
For once startled out of her self-command, Elizabeth gave a little cry,
while her father staggered back against the wall.
"Dead! dead! What do you mean? How did she die?" he asked.
"That is known to God and her alone," answered Geoffrey. "She went out
last evening in her canoe. When I arrived here this morning she was
missed for the first time. I walked along the beach and found the canoe
and this inside of it," and he placed the sodden shoe upon the table.
There was a silence. In the midst of it, Owen Davies burst into the room
with wild eyes and dishevelled hair.
"Is it true?" he cried, "tell me--it cannot be true that Beatrice is
drowned. She cannot have been taken from me just when I was going to
marry her. Say that it is not true!"
A great fury filled Geoffrey's heart. He walked down the room and shut
the door, a red light swimming before his eyes. Then he turned and
gripped Owen Davies's shoulder like a vice.
"You accursed blackguard--you unmanly cur!" he said; "you and that
wicked woman," and he shook his hand at Elizabeth, "conspired together
to bring a slur upon Beatrice.
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