"What the devil is life going to do, what horrible trick is it up to next?" he seemed to say—
"Look here, Christopher," he brought out, when the door was closed. "There's the devil and all to pay. My mother declares this morning that she's going to pay a visit to Roddy!"
"Well?" Christopher seemed amused.
"But ... Good heavens!" John was aghast—"She hasn't stirred out of her room for thirty years! She ... she ... it'll kill her!"
"Oh! no, it won't—" Christopher answered, "not if she really means to do it. Of course she can't walk much—she won't have to—We can get her downstairs, and Roddy's room in York Terrace is on the ground floor—We'll have to see she doesn't catch cold—She'll have to choose a warm day."
"She says she's going this afternoon!" said Lord John, still overwhelmed by this amazing development.
"Well, to-day won't do any harm——"
"Are you sure?"
"Quite sure. The danger with your mother has always been to stop her inclinations. Indulge 'em all the time if you can, let her say what she wishes, do what she wishes. If you were to carry her out of doors against her will, why it would do a great deal of harm indeed—but if she wants to go she'll see that she's up to it. It may be the best thing for her. She could have gone out heaps of times in the last thirty years if she'd wished to!"
Lord John rubbed his forehead—