"You may, sir, after you have given me my glass of port. But remember, sir——"
Dolph turned to the sideboard, grasped a bottle and a glass, and thrust them into the doctor's hand, and started for the door.
"But remember, sir," went on the unperturbed physician, "you must not agitate or excite her. A gentle step, a tranquil tone, and a cheerful and encouraging address, brief and affectionate, will be all that is permitted."
Dolph listened in mad impatience, and was over the threshold before the doctor's peremptory call brought him back.
The doctor looked at him with a gaze of wonder and reproach.
"It is a male child, sir," he said.
Jacob Dolph crept up the stairs on tiptoe. As he paused for a moment in front of a door at the head, he heard the weak, spasmodic wail of another Dolph.
"There's no help for it—I've got to do it," said Jacob Dolph.