"Yes. It is all arranged. The lad will be brought up before the magistrates on Thursday."
She fidgeted, then said abruptly:
"I should like him to be let off."
He hesitated.
"That's very nice of you, but it wouldn't be very good for the district."
She did not press the matter, but as he moved away she said fretfully:
"I wish you'd read to me. The pain's horrid."
Thankful, in his remorse, to do anything for her, he tried to amuse and distract her as he best could. But in the middle of a magazine story she interrupted him:
"Isn't it the day after to-morrow your mother's coming?"
"According to her letter this morning." He put down the book. "But I don't think you'll be at all fit to look after her. Shall I write to-night and suggest that she stays in London a little?"