He dropped his voice and began to talk as rapidly as his lazy, southern drawl would let him. He seemed to have a good deal to say and he wished to say it all. I was in an agony of fear that the old doctor's harangue might not last long enough.
"Yes, the next week after seeing you I went East and returned only this morning," Richard's voice was saying, and, while the words made all the difference in the world to me, still I heard them only indistinctly. All I could take in was the fact that I was hearing his voice again.
"I reached the city this morning, and telephoned Clayborne about noon to ask him where you were. You remember you told me that you were booked to come home with them? I was very glad indeed when he said that you were at his house, and I should have gone out to see Mrs. Clayborne to-night—I wanted to tell her about my mother and sister coming up to town next week for some shopping. They live in Charlotteville—eastern end of the state, you know—but Clayborne said that there was a lecture or something on for to-night. He thought you would all likely be at home to-morrow evening."
"Yes—I think so. We shall be very glad to see you."
"It was the merest chance that I dropped in here and heard you talking—I understood that something very amusing had happened at a circus."
"Yes," I said weakly.
"So I stayed to listen. You will forgive me—for I knew that it was your voice, and"—with a wonderful smile—"you see I am very fond of music."
CHAPTER IX
A SHOPPING EXPEDITION