"If Mr. Armine gets rapidly worse—"
"Oh, but—"
"If he dies and it's discovered afterwards that the cause of his illness had never been found out by his doctor, and that a consultation with a man—forgive me—as widely known as myself was refused, well, it wouldn't do you any good, I'm afraid."
"Good Heavens!" exclaimed the young man, getting up in a flurry. "But—but—look here, have you any idea what's the matter?"
"Unless there's a formal consultation, I must decline to say anything on that point."
Doctor Hartley dabbed his forehead with his handkerchief.
"I—I do wish you were on better terms with Mrs. Armine," he said. "I should be delighted to meet you in consultation. It would really be better, much better."
"I think it would. It often requires two brains working in accord to unravel a difficult case."
"Of course it does! Of course it does!"
"Well, I'm just down the river. And I may pole up little higher."