Heavily, ‘Do they, sir?’
‘I am glad to see you moving about in the garden, Dering, with everything just as usual.’
There is a cautious slyness about this, as if the Colonel was fishing for information; but it is too clever for Dering, who is going with a ‘Thank you, sir.’
‘No, don’t go.’ The old man lowers his voice and makes a confession reluctantly, ‘I am—a little troubled, Dering.’
Dering knows that his master has a wandering mind, and he answers nicely, ‘Everything be all right, sir.’
‘I’m glad of that,’ the Colonel says with relief. ‘It is pleasant to see that you have come back, Dering. Why did you go away for such a long time?’
‘Me, sir?’ Dering is a little aggrieved. ‘I haven’t had a day off since Christmas.’
‘Haven’t you? I thought——’
The Colonel tries to speak casually, but there is a trembling eagerness in his voice. ‘Is everything just as usual, Dering?’
‘Yes, sir. There never were a place as changed less than this.’