“I could not urge her to do so now, for, although she does not yet know it, I am afraid that her grandfather is ill.”
“Mr. Harris ill!”
“He is not well, certainly, and I am rather anxious about him. I want him to consult a specialist.”
“It would be a sad thing for us all if Mr. Harris were ill. We could not spare him just now.”
“I hope I may be mistaken. He is a fine man, and my best friend,” said the doctor. “Felix, my time is up. I shall call for you, Miss Tom, at nine o’clock on Monday morning. Our train leaves Euston at eleven.”
Three of the passengers who travelled into Wales by that train, although they had as pleasant a journey as any of the rest, and were quite as talkative, had each some thoughts which were kept entirely to the thinker, and a profound secret from the others. They were going, as more than a few other people had gone, in order to see for themselves the new departure which created so much interest everywhere, and their conversation was chiefly on this theme. Tom, too, was eager to see her friend Mary Wythburn, and renew the friendship of the old school days, and hear all that Mary would tell of her strange experiences since that morning which she never liked to think about, when she had fled from her friends rather than be married. Tom was very desirous, too, to introduce to Mr. Stapleton the two children, Geoff and Sis, and discover how they liked the new life. Tom’s stories of these prodigies were very amusing, and helped to while away the tedium of the journey. But that which she was thinking of the most frequently she told to no one; and perhaps Dr. Stapleton and his brother were as little confidential as she.
It was evening when they neared Afon Wen, and saw the beautiful blue sea spread before them; but Craighelbyl looks its loveliest and best in the evening lights, and the travellers agreed that a more charming situation could scarcely have been found.
Miss Wythburn and her father stood on the platform, and the two children were beside them. As the train drew up, Sissy shouted, “Aunty Tom, what have you brought me? I am such a great, good girl now.”
The child was exceedingly useful, for the meeting might have had some elements of awkwardness in it if she had not created a diversion.
Mary hastened forward to greet her friend. “Oh, Tom! how good it is to see you. But how pale and tired you are! The Welsh air will soon change all that though. If you had but brought Margaret with you my joy would have been perfect. How do you do, Dr. Stapleton?”