"Mr. Carden-Cox will not speak—if I should marry Fulvia," he said.
"Fulvia!" Mrs. Browning looked wonderingly at the set joyless face, not the face of an expectant lover speaking of his love. "If you marry Fulvia!"
"That is his wish."
"Fulvia! And it was my dear husband's wish! He spoke so often; but I thought—I was afraid—"
"Mother, I said 'if.' It is not to be spoken about. If I ask her—"
"And you will! Oh, you will! He wished it so much!"
Nigel made no reply.
She gazed with anxious questioning.
"And if you do not—if you do not—will Mr. Carden-Cox keep our secret?"
"He says—not."