Mrs. Campbell had been a daily visitor and an occasional nurse from the time he was first brought to the house.
Mrs. Longman never left him except for necessary rest and refreshment.
The gamekeeper’s cottage was ready for occupancy, but neither the mother nor the son would leave the suffering sinner to take possession of its comforts and emoluments.
And Ran heartily excused them both under the circumstances and paid the man’s salary.
Gentleman Geff had never been told of the death of his cousin, the Viscount Stoors. It was thought by his attendants that the news of the decease of a relative that left him, the dying sinner, heir presumptive of an earldom, would be, if not too sorrowful, certainly too startling, too exciting for the safety of an invalid, whose pulse must not be hurried in the slightest degree lest it should bring on a hemorrhage that must carry off the patient.
One day, about this time, Montgomery rallied, and seemed so much better that the doctor allowed him to sit up in bed, propped by pillows.
Mr. Campbell sat by him, reading aloud the morning’s paper, when Longman came in bringing a letter, which he placed in the hands of the rector.
It was in a deep, black-bordered envelope, sealed with a broad black seal and directed to
The Rev. James Campbell,
Haymore Rectory,