“Well, then, if he got better, is there anything we could do about that?”
“In a general way, yes. If you’re gentle with him––”
“Oh, I am.”
“And if you try to smooth him down when you see him beginning to be ruffled––”
“That’s just what I do, only it seems to excite him the more.”
“Then, in that case, I should say, break the conversation off. Go away from him. Let him alone. Let him work out of it. Begin again later.”
“Ye-es, only—” she was wistful, unconvinced—“only later it’s so likely to be the same thing over again.”
He dodged the further issue by running up to explain to the nurse Miss Walbrook’s position in the house, and as helper in case of necessity. By the time he had come down again Barbara’s anguish was visible. “Oh, doctor, you think he will get better, don’t you?”
He was at the front door. “I hope he will. Quite—quite possibly he will. His pulse isn’t very strong as yet, but—Well, Dr. Brace and Dr. Wisdom are coming for another consultation this afternoon; only his condition, you understand, is—well, serious.”