“I should think he would,� said Mrs. Eaton promptly; “I’ve always looked upon Australia as a penal settlement.�
Dr. Cheyney shook with silent laughter again. “Madam,� he said, “do you think him a possible ticket-of-leave man?�
“I am disposed to think anything of a man who can and does support Garnett Yarnall for governor,� she replied frigidly.
Dr. Cheyney’s face sobered suddenly, and Colonel Royall rustled the paper uneasily. After all, she had cause; a Yarnall had shot her husband. The two men felt it less keenly than Diana. She rose suddenly and offered her elderly relative her arm.
“Cousin Jinny, let’s go and see my new rose stocks,� she said mildly; “they’ve been set out in the south garden.�
Mrs. Eaton rose, propitiated, and accepted Diana’s arm, the two moving off together in apparent amity. Dr. Cheyney’s eyes followed them, and then came back to meet the peculiar sadness of Colonel Royall’s.
“Do you think she’s—she’s like—� The colonel’s voice trailed; he was looking after Diana.
“No,� said Dr. Cheyney sharply, “no, she’s like your mother.�
The wistful expression died in the other man’s eyes, and he forced a smile. “You think so? Perhaps she does. Mother was a good woman, God bless her memory,� he added reverently, “but a month ago�—he leaned forward, and the hands that gripped the arms of his chair trembled slightly—“a month ago I caught her looking at me; her eyes are hazel, and�—he avoided the doctor’s glance, and colored with the slow painfulness of an old man’s blush—“her eyes were just like her mother’s.�
Dr. Cheyney got up abruptly and laid his hand on his shoulder. “Wake up, David,� he said sharply, “wake up—you’re dreaming.�