"Oh, how weak I am! How weak I have been!" he said, wiping the moisture from his pale forehead.
Sir Noel poured out a glass of wine and gave it to him.
"Take this—sit down—sit down and rest."
"No, no; I must seek for her!"
"You cannot. Trust to your father, Walton. If your wife is living, I will find her."
Walton seized his father's hand, and wrung it with all his weakened force.
"Oh, father! I have not deserved this! I cannot—I can hardly stand; but we will go—we will go."
He did, indeed, reel across the room, searching blindly for his hat.
Sir Noel led him into the little sitting-room, and placed him with gentle force on a couch.
"Rest there, my son, till I come back. Lady Rose will stay with you."