“Féodor,” she said at last tremulously—“I—I have grown fond of Diana. I shall not be able to look on and see her suffer!”
He bent his brows upon her almost sternly.
“When you do see her suffer it will be time to speak”—he answered—“Not before! And whatever else you see, having no connection with ‘suffering’ in any way, you must allow to pass without comment or inquiry. You love me, I know,—well, you will never prove your love for me more than by consenting to this. If at any moment you can tell me that Diana May is unhappy or in pain, I promise you I will do my best to spare her. But if nothing of this sort happens I rely on your silence and discretion. May I do so?”
She inclined her head gently.
“You may!”
He took her hand and kissed its soft, finely wrinkled whiteness.
“That’s my kind mother!” he said, tenderly—“Always indulgent to me and my fancies as you have been, I know you will not fail me now! And so,—whatever change you observe or think you observe in my ‘subject,’ you must accept it as perfectly natural (for it will be) and not surprising or disturbing. And you must tactfully check the comments and questions of others. I foresee that Chauvet will be tiresome,—he has taken a great fancy to Diana. And Farnese, of course, is a perpetual note of interrogation. But these people must be kept at a distance. You have grown fond of Diana, you say,—fond of this complete stranger in our house!—but I am glad of it, for she needs some sort of tenderness in a life which seems to have been exceptionally lonely. Grow still fonder of her, if you like!—indeed, it is probable you will. For though she is anything but a child, she has all a child’s affection in her which apparently has been wasted, or has met with scant return.”
“You think so?” And Madame Dimitrius looked up with a smile.
“I do think so, assuredly, but because I think so it does not follow that any return can come from me,” he said. “You are a person of sentiment—I am not. You are the one to supply her with the manna which falls from the heaven of a loving heart. And by doing so you will help my experiment.”
“You will not tell me what the experiment really is?” she asked.