The man looked up from his prostrate master, and shook his head sadly.
“It is the end, I fear. May I make so bold as to ask you, my lord, to ring that bell? I shall send to his cousin immediately. Mr. Stuart should come at once. I hope her ladyship is not frightened? Sir Douglas always seemed strange when he heard the name of Margery.”
“She is anxious to know how he is. I will take her home, and return as soon as possible. Yes, send for his relatives, Murray. The Crosbies, you say? Well, they ought to come. Poor old Gerant!”
“Thank you kindly, my lord; I will. He will be glad to see you, I know, if he recovers; but I never saw him so bad as this before.”
The earl waited till he saw the heavy eyelids raised, then he returned to Margery.
“Yes, he is better, darling,” he said, in answer to her eager inquiry. “Come—I will take you home, and then I will return to learn how he is progressing. Murray is going to send to his people, the Crosbies, of Crosbie Castle, and they will look after him.”
“The Crosbies, of Crosbie Castle!” The words rung in Margery’s ears. In an instant she remembered where she had met this man before. She saw once again the hot, dusty lane, the lodgekeeper’s wife, the strange man who had questioned her so curiously and spoken the terrible words that blighted her young heart, and she knew that Sir Douglas Gerant and that man were one and the same. She stood silent, almost overcome by the conflicting feelings within her breast, and was scarcely conscious that the earl led her downstairs, and she was driving home.
CHAPTER XXIV.
That she possessed some strange magnetic influence over Sir Douglas Gerant, Margery did not doubt, but what it was she could not tell; it seemed so vague, so mysterious, and yet her heart was filled with great and unfathomable emotions. What had she in common with Sir Douglas Gerant? Why should he gaze at her so eagerly? She sat very quiet in her carriage, yet every nerve was thrilling.
The earl noticed her manner, but attributed it to the sympathy she felt for the sick man. He regretted now that he had taken her to see his old friend, but Sir Douglas had seemed quite convalescent in the morning, and he had thought the visit might do him good.