Reginald must be excused, therefore, if he said, as he read the telegram,—
Salome gave him a quick glance, for she saw her mother's distressed and anxious face.
"I do hope he is not very ill. What do you think, Salome?"
"I hope not, mother. He only says, 'A severe cold;' and you see he sends the telegram himself."
"Would you advise me to send a telegram for a paid answer?"
"Certainly not, mother," said Reginald. "Don't disturb yourself; he is all right."
Mrs. Wilton was silenced; but when Reginald left the room she said to Salome, "I cannot understand how it is that Reginald is so unfeeling about Ray. It is not like the love of brothers."
All this anxiety at Elm Cottage might have been spared had it been possible to show Mrs. Wilton the comfortable dining-room at Rose Court, the St. Clairs' home, Raymond talking and laughing with one of Henry St. Clair's sisters at a pleasant dinner-party, and quite forgetting the sore throat and little cough which had seemed to Mrs. St. Clair in her kindness a sufficient reason for Raymond to prolong his visit. Sympathy for the boy's altered position had made her doubly kind to him, though she secretly wished he would talk less of himself, his old Eton days and friends, and would have liked it better if he had been quieter and less self-asserting.
"It was a kindness to invite him, poor boy," she said to her husband. "They had a very pretty nice place, with every comfort, and Henry paid them a visit during the Easter holidays. Think what a change it is! I am glad to be kind to him; though he is not exactly the friend I would choose for Henry."