"It is all very well for a day, you know," he said, "but how any body can stand being shut up in a sick room for so long, I can't imagine; and I really think, Miss Capel, I——" and here Mr. Humphries looked round, as if he was anxious to hide behind some of the furniture, "I think, indeed, you are beginning to look pale."
"Oh! I shall do very well," said Margaret, smiling, "Harriet will soon be down stairs, I hope."
"And in the meantime," said Mr. Gage, with deep anxiety, "I fear you are injuring your health by your kind exertions."
Margaret thought he might as well expend a little of his interest upon Harriet's health, which at that time was in rather a more precarious state than hers, but she said "it was a pleasure to her to sit with Harriet, for she well knew how long the days appeared in illness."
"That is very—I mean it is just what I—you are all goodness, I am sure," faltered Mr. Humphries.
Mr. Gage could not but feel the most sovereign contempt for the manner in which Mr. Humphries attempted to show his interest for Margaret: instead of whispering a well-turned phrase into her long tresses, to stand blushing and stammering like an idiot. So after staring haughtily at both for a moment, he loitered away to the stable.
Margaret had a note to write for Harriet, and as during this process her eyes were fixed on the paper, Mr. Humphries found it less difficult to keep up a conversation with her.
"Does Miss Conway make a good invalid?" he said.
"Yes, indeed," said Margaret, "she is very patient."