“My uncle is not in the house, Mr. Jones.”
Nick passed to the study door and closed it.
Then he came back and took a chair by the desk.
“Your brother, Miss Lansing, is alive and well.”
Louise clasped her hands, and a sigh of intense relief escaped her lips.
“Oh, I am so happy!” she murmured. “You cannot tell, Mr. Jones, what a relief it is to me to know that. I will tell uncle just as soon as he comes.”
“You must not tell your uncle, Miss Lansing,” said Nick, firmly.
“Not tell uncle Horace?” she cried. “Why, what can you mean?”
“Just what I say. In a little while your uncle will know everything, but just now he must know nothing. It is your brother’s wish as well as mine.”
“But I cannot see why you make such a request,” said the girl, perplexedly.