"Yes, thank you. Oh, please do not come with me. It is only a step. I'd much rather not. Mrs. Sykes would conclude that the whole family were in danger of immediate extinction."
She was so evidently perturbed that the doctor laid down his hat, but for the first time it occurred to him that Mrs. Sykes was not an unmixed blessing.
Esther was holding out her hand.
"Then you think we can safely leave it until mother returns?"
"I think we shall have to, and if things have been going on as long as you think, a week more or less will make no very material difference. In any case we cannot examine a lady by force or prevent her from getting a prescription until one knows it to be dangerous."
"No, of course not. Good-night, and—thank you, Doctor!"
"And I am not to be allowed to walk home with you?"
"Truly, I would rather not."
"Then good-night, and don't worry."
He watched her flit down the dusky path, heard the click of the gate latch, and turned back into the office to wonder why it seemed suddenly bare and empty!