The Sealed Message by Fergus Hume — Read

The next afternoon Gerald was in London. All the way up in the train he had reflected upon the extraordinary events which had transferred Mavis from the keeping of Major Rebb to his own. In spite of surrounding dangers -- and these were great -- he was not at all downcast. Mavis had been protected so far, and he made sure that she would be protected to the end, which in this case meant marriage with him. The Major would never believe that Haskins had anything to do with the girl's flight, though he certainly might suspect Arnold. But if Arnold were traced to Exeter, where he intended to stay, to avert suspicion, nothing could be learned likely to incriminate him. Mavis had already gone down to Exmouth in Sammy Lee's barge, and that faithful fellow swore that he could procure her a passage to the Thames in a coaster owned by a comrade in whom he could implicitly trust.

Things were therefore right so far, and Gerald's spirits were high. He had every reason to feel happy. Mavis was deeply in love with him, and once Major Rebb was circumvented as it appeared he would be -- there would be no one else to interfere with the progress of his suit. Before the end of the year Gerald hoped that he would be able to introduce his beautiful bride to his London friends, and place her in a position warranted by her wealth. It would not have been human if Haskins had not remembered that Mavis was an heiress, but, in justice to him, it must be admitted that his love was for the girl, and not for her money -- welcome as it was to a young man who liked the pleasant things of this life. Gerald would have been contented to take Mavis without a sixpence; nevertheless, it was not disagreeable to find that she was bringing six thousand a year along with her.