“No,” said Mr. Guildford. “I have not thought so. I do not think Colonel Methvyn quite as well as he was some time ago—he is more nervous, more easily upset than he used to be; but I see no important change in him. There is no reason why he should not remain as well as he is—or even gain ground a little—for years to come, provided always his mind is kept tranquil. I could not take upon myself to say how he would stand any severe shock.”
Cicely gazed at him as if she could hardly believe him.
“That is just what you said some months ago,” she exclaimed. “And you really don’t think him much worse?
“Certainly not. What made you think so?”
“I don’t know. I have not thought him quite well. I fear he has been worried and troubled, and I have let my fears get the better of me, I suppose. I felt quite certain that you had come this morning to prepare me for something dreadful.”
She smiled, but faintly still—the revulsion from terror to renewed hope was almost too much for her. Mr. Guildford smiled too, but in his smile there was even less sunshine than in Cicely’s, and in his voice there was even a touch of bitterness as he replied,
“Something dreadful! Far from it. You will believe me when you hear what it really is that I want to say to you this morning—” he paused and took a step or two away from where he had been standing. Then he came back again to the table, and, lifting a book that was lying upon it, turned the leaves over idly with his fingers. “I want you to release me from a promise, Miss Methvyn,” he said at last.
Cicely looked up in surprise. “What promise? I don’t understand,” she replied.
“Don’t you remember,” he went on, speaking slowly, but without looking at her, “don’t you remember that some time ago I promised you—tacitly or directly I am not sure which, and it does not matter, the promise was given—that I would not leave this neighbourhood as long as Colonel Methvyn required me—as long as I felt that I could be of use to him?”
“Yes,” said Cicely, “I have always depended upon your not doing so. I don’t remember the exact words, but I felt satisfied that you had perfectly re-assured me about it, at the time I was afraid of your going.”