And he believed much the same process had taken place in his mother's
feeling. She rarely spoke of Kitty; but when she did the doubt and
soreness of her mind were plain. Her own life had grown very solitary.
And in particular the old friendship between her and Polly Lyster had
entirely ceased to be. Lady Tranmore shivered when she was named, and
would never herself speak of her if she could help it. Ashe had tried in
vain to make her explain herself. Surely it was incredible that she
could in any way blame Mary for the incident at Verona? Ashe, of course,
remembered the passage in his mother's letter from Venice, and they had
the maid Blanche's report to Lady Tranmore, of Kitty's intentions when
she left Venice, of her terror when Cliffe appeared--of her swoon. But
he believed with the Dean that any treacherous servant could have
brought about the catastrophe. Vincenzo, one of the gondoliers who took
Kitty to the station, had seen the luggage labelled for Verona; no doubt
Cliffe had bribed him; and this explanation was, indeed, suggested to
Lady Tranmore by the maid. His mother's suspicion--if indeed she
entertained it--was so hideous that Ashe, finding it impossible to make
his own mind harbor it for an instant, was harrowed by the mere
possibility of its existence; as though it represented some hidden sore
of consciousness that refused either to be probed or healed.
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