"I promise not."
"Aldridge, I have known you some time, and I have every reason to believe and trust you. I am under many obligations to you. Keep this matter entirely to yourself, and you will double all my gratitude."
"Rely on me."
"It may leak out through the telegraph office or through Barraclough. I want you to go back to Daneford at once, see Evans, and tell him not to say anything of my illness. This is most important. Now go. Barraclough may have told Evans. Go at once."
"Any further orders?"
"No."
"I have paid Sir William Midharst's cheque for twenty thousand."
"All right. Don't lose a moment. Don't miss the first train."
Grey fell back exhausted. Though his head ached, it felt clearer than for many weeks.
"It would never do," he thought, "to have all Daneford gossiping over the infirmities of a man who must one of these days be a candidate bridegroom. The least said about me the better. I have neither the humour nor the strength for criticism or sympathy at present."