“How does this concern you?” she asked.
Gordon flung one hand out. “Ah,” he said, “how does it concern me?” Then he seemed to lay a restraint upon himself. “Well, it does in one sense, anyway. After all, I am a doctor, and a friend of yours, and I’m 92 going to warn you against attempting things women weren’t meant to do. If that doesn’t prove efficacious, I’ll say a word or two to Nasmyth, and you’ll have him back here again. It’s a sure thing your father would be glad to get him.”
“If you do, I shall never forgive you,” warned Laura, with a flash in her eyes.
She was sorry she had spoken so plainly when she saw that Gordon winced. She had guessed more or less correctly what the man felt for her, and she had no wish to pain him. Except for that, however, the admission she had made did not greatly matter, since she fancied that he was quite aware why she had sent Nasmyth away. Gordon changed the subject abruptly.
“There are very few of those blanket dresses this side of the Rockies,” he said. “You probably got it back East.”
The girl’s eyes had a wistful look as she answered: “We spent our first winter in Montreal, and we had some friends who were very kind to us. I like to look back upon those first few months in Canada.”
Gordon nodded. “Oh, yes,” he replied. “I know––sleigh-rides, snowshoe meets, skating-rinks, toboggan-slides. Quite as lively as a London season, and considerably more invigorating; I guess you’ve been through that, too. In one way it’s a pity you didn’t stay in Montreal.”
He saw her sudden embarrassment, and fancied that she could have stayed there, if she had wished to do so, but he felt that he must speak frankly, and he shook his head severely.
“Do you never think of your own advantage at all?” he inquired. “Have you none of the ambitions that most women seem to have?”
“Aren’t you forgetting?” Laura asked with sudden quietness. “My father found it would not be advisable for him to settle in Montreal––for the same reason that 93 afterwards led us to leave Victoria––and we went West. Perhaps he could have faced the trouble and lived it down, but I could not leave him alone.”