书城公版LITTLE NOVELS
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第702章 MISS BERTHA AND THE YANKEE.(36)

But I say he is mad, and therefore not accountable for what he has done--mad for love of a young woman. If I could have my way, I should like to twist her neck, though she _is_ a lady, and a gr eat heiress into the bargain. Before she came between them, my master and Mr. Varleigh were more like brothers than anything else. She set them at variance, and whether she meant to do it or not is all the same to me. I own I took a dislike to her when Ifirst saw her. She was one of the light-haired, blue-eyed sort, with an innocent look and a snaky waist--not at all to be depended on, as I have found them.

I hear I am not expected to give an account of the disagreement between the two gentlemen, of which this lady was the cause. I am to state what I did in Maplesworth, and what I saw afterward in Herne Wood. Poor as I am, I would give a five-pound note to anybody who could do it for me. Unfortunately, I must do it for myself.

On the 10th of July, in the evening, my master went, for the second time that day, to Mr. Varleigh's lodgings.