“How ill you look!” cried Barbara when she saw him. “Your face is dreadfully white. I wish you would tell me what is wrong.”
“I have come here to do so,” he answered.
“Oh! I am glad of that. I am so puzzled about you, and so is Mrs. Pelham. Mother noticed even yesterday that you were not quite so——Oh, it does not matter what she said; we won’t talk of it. But ever since dear little Piers died I cannot help seeing that you are changed.”
“I am worried, Barbara. I am more than worried—I am tortured by a doubt. That doubt makes all the world dark.”
“What is it, Dick?”
“You may not wish to marry me when you know.”
“Dick!” The girl’s face turned white.
“Have you heard that Tarbot is married?”
“Dr. Tarbot married!” cried Barbara.
“How startled you look! Does it affect you much?”