But Mr. Churchill was quite sure that they were, and took over Miss Webster’s letter to show it to the squire. But the squire still thought it very strange, and so did Mrs. Temple when her husband told her of it.
“There is something to hide. John Temple is keeping something back,” she said. And she thought again and again, “What can it be?”
CHAPTER XXXV.
KATHLEEN WEIR’S GHOST.
And during this time, also, Miss Kathleen Weir had felt very much disappointed that she had neither seen nor heard anything of Mr. Ralph Webster. That is, she only received two brief notes from him, both declining her invitations to “a merry supper after the play to meet Linda Falconer, as you admired her so much—and her swain, Dereham.”
But Webster, with the ever-present memory of that despairing face on the bridge, and the constant anxiety for the unhappy girl lying in St. Phillip’s Hospital, nigh unto death, had felt it was impossible for him to encounter the gay and lively sallies of the actress. Not that he had lost interest in the woman who stood between poor May and happiness, but his mind was too much out of tune to go into such vivacious company, and he therefore had refused Miss Weir’s invitations.
But nearly three weeks after he had taken May Churchill to St. Phillip’s, a change came over her condition. Her physical health decidedly improved, and one morning when Doctor Brentwood was paying his usual visit to her she spoke to him of her future life.
“I am going to live now, doctor, am I not?” she said, in a low, pained tone.
“Certainly you are going to live,” replied the doctor. “I hope for many years; until you are quite old,” and he smiled.