“I assure you, upon my word, he has not.”
“What has Martin said?”
She turned away to put the bowl back on the tray, and answered, without looking at him: “Nothing, my lord.”
“ Nothing? ”
“I have been busy,” she reminded him. “I have not seen Martin.”
“I daresay you might not, but — ”
“I can only tell you that there has been no quarrel with him.”
His eyes followed her as she carried the tray across the room. When she turned towards him again she perceived the strain in them, and she said: “I think your wound is paining you, my lord. Dr. Malpas left a sedative draught for you, and if you will take it you will feel more comfortable.”
“It is not that. But while I lie here, with no strength even to pull myself up, and quite shut off from the household — ”
“Tomorrow you will find yourself a good deal restored, if only you will be quiet now,” she promised. “Nothing has happened at Stanyon that you would not wish, and, you know, it is past two o’clock now, so that even if you could rise from your bed there is nothing you could do, for everyone has been in bed these many hours.”