"And, sir, you have got a cough."
"Yes, I had a very bad wetting last week, and a cough is the result. Strange. I had no cough when I slept out of doors."
"Mr. Wynd—Brother Jerome, I mean, you wouldn't go back to that old life? Say you wouldn't go back."
The almost anguish in her voice penetrated for the first time to Wyndham's ear. He gave her a startled glance, then said with warmth:—
"Esther, you and your father have been good Samaritans to me; as long as it is safe I will stay with you."
"It shall and must be safe. Who would look for you here, of all places, when they think you are buried under the waves of the sea?"
"That is true. I expect it is perfectly safe for me to stay."
He lay back in his chair, and gazed into the fire; he had almost forgotten Esther's presence.
"And you like it—you feel happier since you came?" she asked, presently, in a timid voice.
"What did you say?"