"Will you do that? Can you?"
"It shall be done," I replied, still watching her face.
She gave a little fluttering sigh, drew her veil across her arm, and turned to go.
"If I can be of service, in any way," she began, hesitatingly.
"We shall not hesitate to ask for your services," I interrupted, walking beside her to the door, and from thence to the gate, a little to the annoyance of Dr. Hess, I fancied.
As I assisted her to her seat in the phæton, and put the reins in her hands, I saw Arch Brookhouse galloping rapidly from the direction of town. And, just as she had turned her ponies homeward, and I paused at the gate to nod a final good-bye, he reined his horse up sharply beside her vehicle.
"How is the doctor, Adele?" he asked, in a tone evidently meant for my ears.
"Don't speak to me," she replied, vehemently, and utterly regardless of my proximity. "Don't speak to me. I wish it were you in his place."
She snatched up her whip, as though her first instinct was to draw the lash across his face, but she struck the ponies instead, and they flew up the hill at a reckless gait.