"I entrust it all to you, Mr. Pym," Sir Isaac had said. "Perhaps speaking to Mrs. Darling will be sufficient: but--you know the laws of hospitality--I would rather not appear at all in this matter if I can help it. Let the departure be your doing--you understand. Only in case of necessity bring in my name."
Mr. Pym's first step was to seek Mrs. Darling. She was shut up in her room too; so, after waiting for some time, he sent a message to her, and she came to him. The observant surgeon saw that there was a blank, disappointed look in her face.
"I can do nothing with Charlotte," she exclaimed. "She refuses most positively to quit Castle Wafer: and when I urged it, she put an end to the colloquy by leaving me. What is to be done?"
The surgeon could not say what was to be done. Only that to get away Mrs. Carleton that day was indispensable.
Mrs. Darling, poor woman, began to temporize. Charlotte was perfectly well now, she was sure, and a day or two's delay could make no difference. Tomorrow, perhaps, or the next day, she might be induced to hear reason. At length Mr. Pym--for Mrs. Darling seemed inclined to become obstinate in her turn--was obliged to hint at the commands of Sir Isaac.
Mrs. Darling was bitterly incensed, believing that Mr. Pym had been the informant. "I did not think you would have been so treacherous," she exclaimed. "You promised me not to speak to Sir Isaac until all means had been tried to get Charlotte away."
"I did not speak to him. He spoke to me."
"He spoke to you! First?"
"Yes. He sent for me into his room, and entered upon it."
"Who could have told him?" cried Mrs. Darling, after a mortified pause. And Mr. Pym remained silent: it was not his business to speak of the dean.