“He seems very nice for a parson, and he’s quite good-looking. I like him,” she said emphatically.
Gaunt smiled indulgently as she chattered away, but he was going over in his mind the recent interview with Drake. There could be no doubt of the gravity of the task he had undertaken, and he contemplated it with disquietude, but not for a moment did he weaken in his resolve.
“You are not listening to me, and I shall leave you,” Ethel cried with simulated anger.
“I am going up to see Mildred—that is, if she’s awake. You had better not go near her again. You talk too much, child,” he said drily.
When Gaunt reached the hall, Sir Felix Hellier was descending the stairs, and so he waited for him.
“How is my wife?” he asked anxiously.
“She is much better, and you may be quite easy in your mind. It is a wonderful recovery,” Sir Felix answered with some complacency.
“Would you mind coming into this room for a moment? I want to ask you a question.”
Gaunt led the way and there were obvious signs of nervousness when he faced the doctor.
“You remember when you left my wife yesterday, I mean on the first occasion, when you told me that you had done all you could, and that the issue lay in God’s hands?”