“Hush!” she said, turning round as she heard Margaret’s voice; “we must not talk here, it would disturb him, and he must be kept very quiet—oh! very quiet, Doctor Conway says. Come in here, if you wish to speak to me,” and she led the way into her little room. “Will you sit down?” she went on, with the same passive gentleness; “you were good to come, but—but—it must have tired you.”
“Oh! Lady Redmond—” But here Margaret could say no more. She seemed to have no strength left for this; she felt as though her calmness and fortitude were deserting her.
“I told Doctor Conway that you were coming, and he thought it would do no harm, and Doctor Martin said the same. He knows you, he says, and he was sure that you would be very wise and quiet, that you would not excite him. No, do not tell me anything about it. I—I can trust you, and Hugh would not like me to know.”
“Indeed you are mistaken,” began Margaret, eagerly, but Fay checked her with a little dignity.
“Never mind that. Do you know, Miss Ferrers, that Doctor Conway says that my husband is better, that he will not die, it is only weakness and a nervous fancy; but though he is so slow in getting well, they notice a gradual improvement.”
“Thank God, for your sake, Lady Redmond.” But as she said this a painful flush mounted to Fay’s forehead.
“You should say for his sake,” she returned, quietly. “What does it matter about me? Perhaps before the summer is over we may be at rest together, baby and I.”
“Lady Redmond! Oh! I can not bear it;” and here Margaret burst into tears. Yes, she who had parted dry-eyed from her lover wept bitterly for the deceived and unhappy wife.
“Why do you cry, Miss Ferrers?” asked Fay, in the same subdued voice. “It seems to me that if God would take us both it would be so much better for us all. Nobody wants us”—and here her lips quivered—“and I should not like my baby to live without me. What could Hugh do with it, you know?”
“My child,” replied Margaret, checking her sobs, “is this your faith? is this your woman’s courage? Would you who love him so be content to die without winning your husband’s heart?”