Long after the first madness of their grief
had passed, Clara and Madge were astonished to find how dependent
they had been on their mother. They were grown-up women accustomed
to act for themselves, but they felt unsteady, and as if deprived of
customary support. The reference to her had been constant, although
it was often silent, and they were not conscious of it. A defence
from the outside waste desert had been broken down, their mother had
always seemed to intervene between them and the world, and now they
were exposed and shelterless.
Three parts of Mrs Hopgood's little income was mainly an annuity, and
Clara and Madge found that between them they had but seventy-five
pounds a year.
CHAPTER XV
Frank could not rest. He wrote again to Clara at Fenmarket; the
letter went to Mrs Cork's, and was returned to him. He saw that the
Hopgoods had left Fenmarket, and suspecting the reason, he determined
at any cost to go home. He accordingly alleged ill-health, a pretext
not altogether fictitious, and within a few days after the returned
letter reached him he was back at Stoke Newington. He went
immediately to the address in Pentonville which he found on the
envelope, but was very shortly informed by Mrs Cork that 'she knew
nothing whatever about them.' He walked round Myddelton Square,
hopeless, for he had no clue whatever.
What had happened to him would scarcely, perhaps, have caused some
young men much uneasiness, but with Frank the case was altogether
different.
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