"All the same I may die; one never knows," said the widow gloomily.
Herrick laughed at these forebodings. "What!" said he trying to joke her out of so morbid a mood, "have you enemies, like Carr?"
"Anyone who came into contact with Carr was bound to have enemies," said Mrs. Marsh bitterly. "He was a devil if ever there was one. However this is not to the point," she went on impatiently, "I want to know if you will stay with Stephen for a thousand a year?"
"It is a tempting offer to a poor man like myself," said Herrick with some hesitation, "but until Stephen himself asks me to stay, I cannot promise. He may not wish----"
"Oh, that is all right Dr. Herrick. Stephen knows that you are his best friend. I want you to take him in hand and make a man of him. He is too fond of poring over books; too careless of his physical health. Make him ride, and golf, and all the rest of it. I have been a fool keeping him so much beside me. But I love the boy, and that was my woman's weakness. Now he is rich, teach him how to use his riches and be happy."
"You have most influence over him" said Herrick still hesitating.
"I have had too much and not for the best" was her gloomy reply, "no; you are the teacher he wants. Besides who knows what may happen to me?"
Herrick looked at her uneasily. Again she had hinted at something of danger to herself. "I wish you would be plain with me," he said.
"What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Marsh with a frown.
"I think you can guess," retorted the doctor. "You hint at your dying; so far as I know there is not the least likelihood of your doing so unless you take an overdose of that chloral which I am always advising you to leave off. Have you some enemy who is likely to----"