"You needn't hurry for my sake," she said abruptly. "I shall be perfectly happy here."
"I am glad to hear it," he answered gravely. "I have made full provision for you. The interest upon the settlement I have made upon you will be paid to you monthly. Should you find it insufficient, you will, of course, let me know. I could cable you some more if necessary."
A great blush rose in Nan's face at his words, spreading upwards to her hair.
"Oh," she stammered, "I—I—indeed, I shan't want any money! Please don't—"
"It is your own," he interposed quietly, "and as such I beg that you will regard it, and spend it exactly as you like. Should you require more, as I have said, I shall be pleased to send it to you."
He uttered the last sentence as if it ended the matter, and Nan found herself unable to say more. To have expressed any gratitude would have been an absolute impossibility at that moment.
She lay, therefore, in quivering silence until he spoke again.
"It is time for me to be going. I hope the injury to your arm will progress quite satisfactorily. You will not be able to write to me yourself at present, but your sister Mona has promised to let me hear of you by every mail. Dr. Barnard will also write."
He paused. But Nan said nothing whatever. She was wondering, with a fiery embarrassment, what form his farewell would take.
After a brief silence he rose.