Doris expected to be questioned next, but her grandfather, knowing she was less friendly with Felicia than was her sister, did not do so, and consequently she kept silence. It would have been easy to have set the matter straight by explaining how her cousin had encountered the gipsy children, and the cause of her subsequent visit to the common, but she decided she would not. She saw no reason why she should interfere. Felicia could explain for herself.
"Nevertheless, I am persuaded the gipsy woman spoke the truth," Mr. Renford said decidedly; "I shall speak to Felicia on the subject as soon as I get home. The thought that the child has wilfully disobeyed me is an unpleasant one. I suppose I must make allowances for her, however, for the circumstances of her life have been peculiar, but she seemed so—so adaptable. It is hard to believe she would set me at defiance like that."
"I don't believe she has!" Molly declared. "Ask her, grandfather, and she will tell you."
"I have always considered her truthful," Mrs. Pring said uneasily; "of course we have not known her a great while, but we have never detected anything false or deceitful about her. Don't be certain there is not a mistake, father."
"I will not, Mary," he assured her; "I suppose it would be too much to expect that a ditch flower could altogether escape the mud," he added with rather a sarcastic smile.
Mrs. Pring sighed. She felt greatly troubled and wished her husband was there. But the Vicar had gone to visit a sick parishioner and did not come home till long after his father-in-law had gone.
When Mr. Renford reached the Priory, an hour before his dinner-time, he went immediately to his study, and sent for Felicia. Not dreaming anything was amiss, the little girl, who had only left her uncle a short while previously, came running downstairs and into her grandfather's presence with a smiling face and a happy light in her eyes. Without waiting to hear why he had summoned her, she began at once—
"Oh, grandfather, such good news for you! I know you'll be glad! Uncle Guy has consented to see the doctor you wish him to consult, and he says you may send for him as soon as you like."
"Indeed I am glad to hear this," Mr. Renford replied, looking pleased and surprised. "Is this your doing, Felicia?"
"I asked him to see the doctor for your sake, grandfather, and by-and-by he consented to do so. Oh, how I wish something could be done to make him better, though I am afraid he can never be quite well, can he?"