“None, sir.”
“Are there no inquiries after his health?”
“Yes, sir; there's plenty of people he used to give money to when he was up and about poor actors, and painters, and the like they come every day to know how he is. Some of them leave begging letters, which I never give him; but most go away without a word.”
“And his countrymen here are there none who ask after him?”
“No, sir. The only English we ever see visit my Lady, and never come to this side of the house at all.”
“Does Miss Dalton come to inquire for him?”
“Every morning and every night too, sir. I suppose it must be without my Lady's orders, or even knowledge; for once, when Sir Stafford was sitting up in his dressing-room, and I asked her if she would n't like to come in and sit a few minutes with him, she turned away without speaking; and I saw, from her manner, that she was crying.”
“What are all these people outside, who are they?”
“My Lady's tradespeople, sir. They've heard she's going for a few weeks to Como, and they 've come with all their bills, as if she was a runaway.”
“Go and tell them to leave this, send them away, Proctor. It would do your master great injury were he to overhear them. Say that everything shall be paid in a day or two; that Sir Stafford remains here, and is responsible for all.”