He came to her side, stooped over her, and took her hand. Her fingers closed weakly about his.
"Send her to bed!" she whispered. "She is tired. You come instead!"
He bent and kissed her forehead with a tenderness that made her cling more closely. "Shall I do instead?" he asked her gently.
She offered him her lips though she was panting a little. "Yes, I want you. Make Juliet—go to bed!"
He turned to Juliet, his wife's hand still in his. All the hard lines were smoothed out of his face. There was something even pathetic about his smile.
"Will you go to bed, Juliet," he said in that new gentle voice of his, "and leave me in charge?"
She got up. "I will lie down in the conservatory," she said.
"No—no!" He put his free hand on her arm with a touch of his customary imperiousness. "That won't do. You're to go to bed properly—and sleep till you can't sleep any longer. Yes, that's an order, see?" He smiled again at her, his sudden transforming smile. "Be a good child and do as I tell you! Cox is within call. We'll certainly fetch you if we find we can't do without you."
Juliet's eyes went to Vera.
"Yes, she wants to get rid of you too," said the squire. "We're pining to be alone. No, we won't talk. We won't do anything we ought not, eh, Vera, my dear? Nurse will be getting up in another hour so we shan't have it to ourselves for long."