At my earnest request, he had a strong bolt put on his
bedroom-door, the use of which he promised me never to neglect. At my
suggestion too, he let it be known that he had always a brace of loaded
pistols within his reach, and showed himself well practiced in shooting
with them. I feared much for John.
After I no longer only believed, but knew the bailiff trustworthy, and
had got some few points in his management bettered, I ceased giving so
much attention to details, and allowed myself more time to read and walk
and ride with John. I laid myself out to make up to him, as much as ever
I could, for the miserable lack of any home-life. At Rising he had not
the least sense of comfort or even security. He could never tell what his
mother might not be plotting against him. He had a very strong close box
made for Leander, and always locked him up in it at night, never allowing
one of the men there to touch him. The horse had all the attention any
master could desire, when, having locked his box behind him, he brought
him over to us in the morning.
One lovely, cold day, in the month of March, with ice on some of the
pools, and the wind blowing from the north, I mounted Zoe to meet John
midway on the moor, and had gone about two-thirds of the distance, when I
saw him, as I thought, a long way to my right, and concluded he had not
expected me so soon, and had gone exploring.
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