'Are you afraid that I shall prove an extravagant housekeeper?'
'No, dear,—no. But if I were to die,—what would become of Agatha?'
'Could I take care of her,—I mean, would she suffer if I had to provide for her altogether out of that sum which you say is barely sufficient?'
'You could do it, lassie, but she would be a great tie.'
'I will never desert her while she needs me. Even if Brian would not let me have her with me, and you know that is an unnecessary supposition, I could make arrangements for her to board and lodge somewhere quite near, so that I could be often with her. You meant, did you not, that you could not bear to think of her being left lonely, and obliged to think and manage for herself? I would prevent that.'
Uncle Jack smiled, and squeezed the arm he was holding.
'God bless you, dearest,—you have taken a load of anxiety off my mind! Yes, that was all I meant. I couldn't endure the thought that my poor Agatha might be utterly alone. Probably my brother would offer her a home,—but I could not count upon that.'
'But you—you are not going to die soon. I mean you—you are not ill?'
'For a year past I have had need to be careful of myself. My heart is in a wrong condition, so the doctor tells me. In fact, lassie, his warnings simply amount to this, which we all believe of ourselves,—that I might die any moment, if God so pleased.'
For a while Catherine was speechless. Then she realised the truth which the colonel's words had suggested—threatened his life might be, but it could not end until the Creator had ordained that he should die.