“I’m going to give him this,” she said simply in a low voice. “It’s so long to dinner-time.”
“By all means,” said Mr Heve, with his little formal bow.
“You’ve finished seeing him then, doctor?”
He nodded.
“I’ll be back soon,” said Edwin to Maggie, taking his hat from the rack. “Tell father if he asks I’ve run down to the shop.”
She nodded and disappeared.
“I’ll walk down a bit of the way with you,” said Mr Heve.
His trap, which was waiting at the corner, followed them down the road. Edwin could not begin to talk. And Mr Heve kept silence. Behind him, Edwin could hear the jingling of metal on Mr Heve’s sprightly horse. After a couple of hundred yards the doctor stopped at a house-door.
“Well—” He shook hands again, and at last smiled with sad sweetness.
“He’ll be a bit difficult to manage, you know,” said Edwin.