It was on a warm afternoon towards the middle of the month that Maud was sitting at the piano, trying to soothe him with the music he loved, during the absence of the nurse, when the sound of a footfall in the room made her turn. Saltash had been away for a few days, but she was half-expecting him. He never remained away for long.
"Why, Charlie,--" she began, with a quick smile of welcome, and broke off sharply. It was Capper.
Her face must have displayed something more than surprise, she reflected later, for his first words, albeit he smiled whimsically as he uttered them, were words of apology.
"So sorry, Mrs. Bolton. I shouldn't have taken you off your guard like this, only I had a notion that being somewhat over-due, you might be more or less prepared to see me."
She left the piano, and went with outstretched hand to meet him. "You at last!" she said.
Her welcome was cordial, but it was wholly without eagerness. Her heart was beating wildly, uncontrollably. She felt suddenly cold, as if she had stepped into a stone vault.
Capper bent a little over her hand; she saw his eyes flash over her. "I don't find the frog in attendance," he remarked. "Has he been shunted for a spell?"
She felt her colour come again. "Don't you want to hear about Bunny?" she said.
He smiled at her. "I know my own business so well, madam, that I know all I need to know about Bunny," he told her dryly. "The boy is just mad to be allowed to try his strength, and between you and me he'll have about the biggest disappointment of his life when he does. It won't do him any harm though, so don't you worry any!" He suddenly held up her hand to the light and surveyed it critically. "Say, Mrs. Bolton," he said, "what do you live on? Just monkey-nuts?"
She laughed in spite of herself. "I live very well, I assure you. But I could never get fat. It's not my nature."