“I do.”
“Well, I make it. I feel very sorry that I forgot myself so far as to use those terms in respect to the gentleman in question. I take them back unreservedly, and I beg you, as you are a Christian, to forgive me.”
She bowed, still a little coldly, and then said:
“Sir, I know that you have come here this morning, if not directly from my husband, at least in his interests, or upon his affairs. If you are an authorized agent, pray explain the nature of the business that has brought you here.”
Under the forced calmness of her words he perceived that a terrible anxiety was torturing her soul. He answered gently:
“Madam, yes, I come here on his affairs and in his interests, since it is certainly important to him that he be prevented from taking a certain step that he contemplates.”
“What step is that?” she breathlessly inquired.
“Will you permit me first to see you into the house? The explanation I have to make is not a pleasant one, and you are already something overcome by what has passed. You had better hear the rest of what I have to say in your own parlor.”
Drusilla hesitated. She still resented the words he had used in reference to her husband, although he had recanted and begged pardon; and for this reason she shrank from taking him across the threshold of her house. But she reflected that, as he had assured her he came upon Alexander’s affairs and in his interests, she could do no less than open her doors to his entrance.
“Come, then,” she said, rising and leading the way into the cottage.