CHAPTER XXXIII
Late that night, as I sat up pondering over all that had happened, Mrs. Halifax came into my room.
She looked round; asked me, according to her wont, if there was anything I wanted before she retired for the night?—(Ursula was as good to me as any sister)—then stood by my easy-chair. I would not meet her eyes, but I saw her hands fluttering in their restless way.
I pointed to her accustomed chair.
"No, I can't sit down. I must say good-night." Then, coming at once to the point—"Phineas, you are always up first in the morning. Will you—John thinks it had better be you—will you give a message from us to—Maud's governess?"
"Yes. What shall I say?"
"Merely, that we request she will not leave Beechwood until we have seen her."
If Miss Silver had overheard the manner and tone of that "request," I doubt if it would not have hastened rather than delayed her departure. But, God help the poor mother! her wounds were still fresh.
"Would it not be better," I suggested, "if you were to write to her?"