On asking for Miss Adair he was ushered in and led to the dingy, old-fashioned drawing-room. It was some time before a step approached, and then the doctor, with a keen look in his kindly eyes, entered alone.
Lawrence was watching the door with a fixed intentness that scarcely gave when the unexpected comer entered.
“My niece has a very bad headache,” the doctor said simply, as he shook hands. “She does not feel equal to seeing any one to-day. I am sorry you should have had this long drive for nothing.”
“Is she ill?” Lawrence asked bluntly.
“Oh, no, only ailing a little. The weather has been very trying the last week.”
The doctor studied the visitor carefully. Paddy’s hurried return had caused him much food for anxious thought, coupled with her evident low spirits and loss of appetite. He shot a bow at a venture.
“I think you come from Omeath?” he said.
Lawrence assented, but seemed lost in thought.
“Wouldn’t she see me just for a few minutes?” he asked. “I don’t want to worry her, but I have come from Omeath, and she might like to hear about them all at home.”
The doctor went away, but came back again alone.