"Out with it! It won't matter!" said Hubert, in a rather impatient tone. "What do you want to say?"
"Nothing to make your pulse throb and your face flush in that manner," she answered, sitting down beside him and laying her cool fingers on his wrist. "Dear Hubert, I have no bad news for you, though I may say one or two things that sound disagreeable. Please don't excite yourself in this way, or I must go away."
"No, no—you must speak out now; it will do me no harm. What is it?"
"Flossy saw Miss West here. She was displeased by her presence. Uncle Richard believed every word that his wife said, and was led to think that Cynthia West was a wicked designing creature who wanted to marry you. You can imagine what Florence would say and what uncle Richard would believe."
"I can indeed! And did she come here and say this to Cynthia?"
"She said a great deal, I believe. She tried to make Cynthia go away—Uncle Richard told me; and—shall I tell you everything, Hubert?—he said that you would not be 'led astray' for very long, and that I should find that you were true—true to me."
"Enid, did you believe him?"
"I don't know exactly what I believed. It seemed to me that Cynthia West had done a very noble thing in coming to nurse you when you were ill."
Hubert turned and seized her hands.
"Heaven bless you for saying that, Enid! She saved my life."