Janet handed him a little note. It was very brief and blotted with tears.
“Do not come any more, Eric,” it ran. “I must not see you, because it would only make it harder for us both. You must go away and forget me. You will be thankful for this some day. I shall always love and pray for you.”
“KILMENY.”
“I MUST see her,” said Eric desperately. “Aunt Janet, be my friend. Tell her she must see me for a little while at least.”
Janet shook her head but went upstairs. She soon returned.
“She says she cannot come down. You know she means it, Master, and it is of no use to coax her. And I must say I think she is right. Since she will not marry you it is better for her not to see you.”
Eric was compelled to go home with no better comfort than this. In the morning, as it was Sunday, he drove David Baker to the station. He had not slept and he looked so miserable and reckless that David felt anxious about him. David would have stayed in Lindsay for a few days, but a certain critical case in Queenslea demanded his speedy return. He shook hands with Eric on the station platform.
“Eric, give up that school and come home at once. You can do no good in Lindsay now, and you’ll only eat your heart out here.”
“I must see Kilmeny once more before I leave,” was all Eric’s answer.
That afternoon he went again to the Gordon homestead. But the result was the same; Kilmeny refused to see him, and Thomas Gordon said gravely,