“You mean was: don’t let us speak of him. She is an old friend of mine. But if it had not been for Adolphus Harwood I should never have been doctor at Clover, and perhaps never have seen my little Janet, so for every trouble there is compensation, my dear.”
“What trouble?” she said, eagerly.
“Never mind. Come in and introduce me, Janet—though we know each other very well.”
Janet took the arm he offered her and walked in, with all her spirit and courage restored, to Mrs. Harwood’s room. She wished they had been all there, every one to see that she was not the lonely creature they had thought her. But there was nobody but the mistress of the house, with Julia behind, telling her mother what they had seen during their walk. Mrs. Harwood was smiling; she had the air of a contented and cheerful mother with no trouble in her way. She looked up to receive the new-comers, saying, “Why, Janet!” with a little surprise, quickly divining from the girl’s attitude and the air of the pair that something unusual had come in the governess’s way.
“I have brought an old friend to see you,” said Janet, faltering a little.
“John Harding, at your service, Mrs. Harwood, now as long ago,” the doctor said.
Mrs. Harwood uttered a low cry, the color went out of her face, and the light out of her eyes. She sat and looked at him, with her under lip falling and dismay in her heart.
CHAPTER LI.
Nothing, as Mrs. Harwood herself said, is so bad as you expect; and the great shock which the sight of this stranger evidently gave her soon subsided in the extraordinary composure and self-command which she was able to bring to bear against every accident. By the time that it had been explained to her who the visitor was, and what was his errand, which he insisted at once upon telling, the conversation became what an uninitiated person would have thought quite cosy and pleasant. Mrs. Harwood drew her breath more quickly than usual. She looked at the door with some anxiety, and she even sent Julia with a message whispered in her ear.
“Don’t let Dolff come in here.”