"Tell my darling boy, when you see him, that it was my fault—and I love him so—oh, how I love him—" Her voice broke in a sob.
Father Honoré left the room to cover his emotion. He spoke to Ellen from the hall, and went out at the front door in order to avoid Mrs. Caukins. He had need to be alone.
That afternoon at the station, Octavius Buzzby met him on the platform.
"Mr. Buzzby, is there any truth in the rumor I heard, as I came to the train, that Mrs. Champney has had a stroke?"
The face of Champ-au-Haut's factotum worked strangely before he made answer.
"Yes, she's had a slight shock. The doctor told me this morning that he knew she'd had the first one over three years ago; this is the second. I've come down for a nurse he telegraphed for; I expect her on the next train up—and, Father Honoré—" he hesitated; his hands were working nervously in each other.
"Yes, Mr. Buzzby?"
"I come down to see you, too, on purpose—"
"To see me?" Father Honoré looked his surprise; his thoughts leaped to a possible demand on Mrs. Champney's part for his presence at Champ-au-Haut—she might have repented her words, changed her mind; might be ready to help her nephew. In that case, he would wait for the midnight train.