“It’s very likely that I shall come.”
She left him shortly after this and walked home in a thoughtful mood, regretting his approaching departure and pondering over what he had said. With reflection it became clearer that she had entertained the same idea as his. He and she and the others he mentioned were not acting and reacting upon one another casually; it was all a part of a purpose, leading up to something that still lay unrevealed on the knees of destiny. Perhaps he had been right in speaking of a drama; it suggested a sequence of prearranged events, springing from George’s death. Reaching home, she endeavored to banish these thoughts, which were vaguely troublesome, but Miss Hume found her preoccupied and absent-minded during the evening.
The following day she went over to see Mrs. Gladwyne and was asked to wait until her return. Shortly afterward, Clarence entered the room where she was sitting, and she alluded to her visit to Lisle.
“He is going back as soon as he can stand the journey,” she said.
Gladwyne made an abrupt movement and she noticed with surprise and some indignation the relief in his expression. Though the men had not been on very cordial terms, it puzzled her.
“You don’t attempt to conceal your satisfaction,” she commented. “Isn’t it a little ungenerous?”
His effort to recover his composure was obvious, but he answered her quietly.
“I’m afraid it is. After the accident—I think I was partly blamed for that—he behaved very well; told everybody about the slippery ground and said what he could to exonerate me.”
“I didn’t mean to refer to that matter,” explained Millicent. She knew that it was a painful one to him.
“Still,” he resumed, “even if it’s ungrateful, I am rather glad he’s going.”