Harvey was not unwilling. He did not care for his present surroundings, he had grown tired of the Captain, and he was heartily weary of an invalid life, though lacking energy to get out of it even as far as he might. Nothing pleased him that any body did, and no suggestions were to his mind. Mr. Pennant privately decided that "something was weighing upon" Mr. Dalrymple, and Mrs. Trevor, not privately, declared him to be "fearfully cross."
She had her way, however. Going home in two days became a settled plan, and on the morning of the last day, an hour or two before starting, Harvey saw Julia.
The interview came about suddenly so far as she was concerned. Till that morning she had not been told of this new arrangement. It was something of a shock to find that Harvey was willing to go and to leave her behind, yet this she knew to be unreasonable, and she controlled herself resolutely. "I shall be able to go too—soon!" she said in a wistful tone; and when Harvey came in, walking more invalidishly than was quite needful, she met him with the peaceful smile which had of late characterised her.
He was aware of a difference which he could not have defined, which he did not try to define. His one wish was to get through the interview without the remotest allusion to Hermione, and the moment he came in he saw "Hermione" written in Julia's eyes.
Mrs. Ogilvie was working in the room beside Julia's sofa, and he said "Don't go!" most earnestly. But Mrs. Ogilvie rose at once. "Yes, you must take this chair," she said. "I have promised ten minutes to Mrs. Dalrymple—not more, I think."
Harvey could have dispensed with the ten minutes, but he had no choice. "And you are better, Julia? Very thin, though," he said kindly. "How naughty you were to take that long walk, when you ought to have kept still! Another time I shall not trust your report of yourself. It is provoking that you cannot come home yet, still I hope it will be only a week or so. As Francesca says, we ought not all to remain here longer than can be helped. Captain Woodthorpe will be glad to have his house quiet."
He wanted to get through the ten minutes with nothing more than chit-chat. Julia submitted for two or three minutes, answering questions as to herself, and asking how he was. Then, putting both her hands on one of his, and looking into his face with earnest eyes, she broke into another question.
"Harvey—can you guess how much I have thought of something you said to me just before it happened?"
"It—" the accident, of course. No need to ask. But this had come even sooner than Harvey expected, and he wanted time. "It?" he said inquiringly. "Oh—ah—yes, the smash, you mean. Poor Emperor! It is a serious loss. I never had a better horse. And Prince will never be worth anything again. I shall have to get rid of him."
"But, Harvey, about Hermione?"