She had expressed a wish that she were a widow, implying perhaps that if she had been free she would have accepted him.

If the obstacle of her living husband were removed, it was not improbable that she would look favourably upon the squire's suit; to bring Goddard to an untimely end would undoubtedly be to clear the way for the squire.

It was not then, a legitimate desire for justice which made him wish to catch the convict and almost to wish that Stamboul might worry him to death; it was the secret hope that Goddard might be killed and that he, Charles James Juxon, might have the chance to marry his widow.

"In other words," he said to himself, "I really want to murder Goddard and take his wife." It was not easy to see where legitimate severity ended and unlawful and murderous selfishness began.

The temptation was a terrible one.