"If you had been rejected," said Junius, "I should have been very glad, indeed, to have you stay with us."
"Thank you," said Lawrence.
"I will look in upon you again," said Junius, as he left the room.
Lawrence's mind, which had been in a very unpleasant state of troubled restiveness for some days, was now thrown into a sad turmoil by this arrival of Junius Keswick. As he saw that tall and good-looking young man going up the steps of the house porch, with his valise in his hand, he clinched both his fists as they rested on the arm of his chair, and objurgated the anti-detective.
"If it had not been for that rascal," he said to himself, "I should not have written to Keswick, and he would not have thought of coming back at this untimely moment. The only advantage I had was a clear coast, and now that is gone. Of course Keswick was frightened when he found I was staying in the same house with Roberta March, and hurried back to attend to his own interests. The first thing he will do now will be to propose to her himself; and, as they have been engaged once, it is as like as not she will take him again. If I could use this foot, I would go into the house, this minute, and have the first word with her." At this he rose to his feet and made a step with his sprained ankle, but the sudden pain occasioned by this action caused him to sit down again with a groan. Lawrence Croft was not a man to do himself a physical injury which might be permanent, if such doing could possibly be avoided, and he gave up the idea of trying to go into the house.
"I tell you what it is, Letty," said Uncle Isham, when he returned to the kitchen after having carried Lawrence's supper to him, "dat ar Mister Croft in de offis is a gittin wuss an' wuss in he min', ebery day. I neber seed a man more pow'ful glowerin' dan he is dis ebenin."
"I reckin' he j'ints is healin' up," said Letty. "Dey tells me dat de healin' pains mos' gen'rally runs into de min'."
About nine o'clock in the evening Junius Keswick paid Lawrence a visit; and, taking a seat by one side of the fireplace, accepted the offer of a cigar.
"How are things going on in the house?" asked Lawrence.
"Well," said Keswick, speaking slowly, "as you know so much of our family affairs, I might as well tell you that they are in a somewhat upset condition. When I went in, I saw, at first, no one but my cousin, and she seemed so extraordinarily glad to see me that I thought something must be wrong, somewhere; and when my aunt returned—she was not at home when I arrived—she was thrown into such a state of mind on seeing me, that I didn't know whether she was going to order me out of the house or go herself. But she restrained herself, wonderfully, considering her provocation, for, of course, I have entirely disordered her plans by appearing here, when she had arranged everything for you to have Miss March to yourself. But, so far, the peace has been kept between us, although she scarcely speaks to me."