04-02-02-织工马南 [10]
？'
'No，and he'd better not come home now！'replied Godfrey angrily．'How stupid I was to trust him with my horse！'
'But where can Dunstan be？I suppose he wasn't hurt，be－cause we didn't find him near the horse．'
'Him？'said Godfrey bitterly．'Oh，he'll be all right．He'll never be hurt—he only ever hurts other people！We'll hear of him soon enough，don't worry． '
Bryce said goodbye and rode away．Godfrey rode slowly back into Raveloe，thinking about what he would very soon have to do．There was no longer any escape．He must confess the whole truth to his father．For the rest of the day he planned what he would say．He would explain that he had lent Fowler's money to Dunstan，because Dunstan knew his secret．That would be the right moment to tell the Squire about his secret marriage to Molly．'But he'll be very angry！'thought Godfrey．'And when he's angry with people，he just wants to punish them！He won't listen or calm down！But perhaps he'll keep my se-cret—he's so proud of the family name！And if he disinherited me，everyone would talk about it．'
When he went to bed that night， Godfrey thought he had decided what to say．But when he woke up in the morning，he could not see any reason to confess to the marriage．Why should he lose the chance of marrying Nancy？ Why should he tell the whole truth now， when perhaps it was not necessary？No，it would be better to go on in the same way as before．Per haps Dunstan would stay away for a while，and then there would be no need to tell his father about Molly．'But today I'll tell the Squire about the money，'he thought．'He'll have to know about that．'
Godfrey was already in the dining-room when his father ar-rived for breakfast．The Squire sat down at the head of the table and ordered the servant to bring him some beer．
'Haven't you had breakfast yet，Godfrey？'he asked．
'Yes，I have，sir，'replied Godfrey，'but I was waiting to speak to you．'
'Well，you young people have plenty of time，'answered the Squire．'We older ones have to do all the work．'
Godfrey looked straight at his father．'Sir，'he said bravely，'I must tell you－something very unfortunate has happened to Wildfire．'
'What！Has he broken a leg？I thought you could ride bet-ter than that！Well，you can't expect me to pay for a new horse．I'm very short of money at the moment．And I'm angry with Fowler－he still hasn't paid me what he owes me．If he doesn't pay today，he'll go to prison！'the Squire's face was red， and he banged angrily on the table as he spoke．
'It's worse than breaking a leg，'continued Godfrey miser-ably．'Wildfire's dead．But I don't want you to buy me anoth-er horse．I just feel sorry I can't pay you－you see，sir，the truth is，I'm very sorry，Fowler did pay the money．He gave it to me，and I was stupid enough to let Dunstan have it．And he was going to sell Wildfire and then I was going to repay you the money．'
The Squire's face was purple now，and for a moment he could not speak．'You—you let Dunstan have my money？Why did you give it to him？ And why did he want it？Where's Dunstan now？He'll answer my questions， or leave this house！Go and fetch him at once！'
'Dunstan hasn't come home，sir．The horse was found dead，and nobody knows where Dunstan is．''Well，why did you let him have my money？ Answer me！'said the Squire，staring angrily at Godfrey．
'Well，sir，I don't know，'replied Godfrey，hesitating．He was not good at lying，and was not prepared for his father's questions．
'You don't know？'the Squire repeated scornfully．'Well， I know why． I think you've done something wrong， and you've bribed Dunstan to keep it a secret！That's it，isn't it？'
The Squire had made a very clever guess，and Godfrey's heart banged in sudden alarm．He was not ready to confess ev－erything yet．'Well，sir，'he said，trying to speak carelessly，'it was just a little business between Dunstan and me． You wouldn't be interested in it，you know．'
'How old are you now？Twenty－six？'asked the Squire an－grily．'Old enough to look after your money and mine too！I've been much too generous to you boys， but I'm going to be harder on you all from now on． You've got a weak character
'No，and he'd better not come home now！'replied Godfrey angrily．'How stupid I was to trust him with my horse！'
'But where can Dunstan be？I suppose he wasn't hurt，be－cause we didn't find him near the horse．'
'Him？'said Godfrey bitterly．'Oh，he'll be all right．He'll never be hurt—he only ever hurts other people！We'll hear of him soon enough，don't worry． '
Bryce said goodbye and rode away．Godfrey rode slowly back into Raveloe，thinking about what he would very soon have to do．There was no longer any escape．He must confess the whole truth to his father．For the rest of the day he planned what he would say．He would explain that he had lent Fowler's money to Dunstan，because Dunstan knew his secret．That would be the right moment to tell the Squire about his secret marriage to Molly．'But he'll be very angry！'thought Godfrey．'And when he's angry with people，he just wants to punish them！He won't listen or calm down！But perhaps he'll keep my se-cret—he's so proud of the family name！And if he disinherited me，everyone would talk about it．'
When he went to bed that night， Godfrey thought he had decided what to say．But when he woke up in the morning，he could not see any reason to confess to the marriage．Why should he lose the chance of marrying Nancy？ Why should he tell the whole truth now， when perhaps it was not necessary？No，it would be better to go on in the same way as before．Per haps Dunstan would stay away for a while，and then there would be no need to tell his father about Molly．'But today I'll tell the Squire about the money，'he thought．'He'll have to know about that．'
Godfrey was already in the dining-room when his father ar-rived for breakfast．The Squire sat down at the head of the table and ordered the servant to bring him some beer．
'Haven't you had breakfast yet，Godfrey？'he asked．
'Yes，I have，sir，'replied Godfrey，'but I was waiting to speak to you．'
'Well，you young people have plenty of time，'answered the Squire．'We older ones have to do all the work．'
Godfrey looked straight at his father．'Sir，'he said bravely，'I must tell you－something very unfortunate has happened to Wildfire．'
'What！Has he broken a leg？I thought you could ride bet-ter than that！Well，you can't expect me to pay for a new horse．I'm very short of money at the moment．And I'm angry with Fowler－he still hasn't paid me what he owes me．If he doesn't pay today，he'll go to prison！'the Squire's face was red， and he banged angrily on the table as he spoke．
'It's worse than breaking a leg，'continued Godfrey miser-ably．'Wildfire's dead．But I don't want you to buy me anoth-er horse．I just feel sorry I can't pay you－you see，sir，the truth is，I'm very sorry，Fowler did pay the money．He gave it to me，and I was stupid enough to let Dunstan have it．And he was going to sell Wildfire and then I was going to repay you the money．'
The Squire's face was purple now，and for a moment he could not speak．'You—you let Dunstan have my money？Why did you give it to him？ And why did he want it？Where's Dunstan now？He'll answer my questions， or leave this house！Go and fetch him at once！'
'Dunstan hasn't come home，sir．The horse was found dead，and nobody knows where Dunstan is．''Well，why did you let him have my money？ Answer me！'said the Squire，staring angrily at Godfrey．
'Well，sir，I don't know，'replied Godfrey，hesitating．He was not good at lying，and was not prepared for his father's questions．
'You don't know？'the Squire repeated scornfully．'Well， I know why． I think you've done something wrong， and you've bribed Dunstan to keep it a secret！That's it，isn't it？'
The Squire had made a very clever guess，and Godfrey's heart banged in sudden alarm．He was not ready to confess ev－erything yet．'Well，sir，'he said，trying to speak carelessly，'it was just a little business between Dunstan and me． You wouldn't be interested in it，you know．'
'How old are you now？Twenty－six？'asked the Squire an－grily．'Old enough to look after your money and mine too！I've been much too generous to you boys， but I'm going to be harder on you all from now on． You've got a weak character