‘I did not see it, I divined it,’ said the young man, with his protruding light eyes staring at her with an odd mischievous expression in them. ‘It is part of the mysteries of medicine—a faculty akin to inspiration in some doctors, that they see with their inner eyes what is invisible to the outer eye. For instance, I can see right into your heart, and I see there something that looks to me very much like the wound I patched up in Mr. Jasper’s pate. Whilst his has been healing, yours has been growing worse.’
Barbara turned cold and shivered. ‘For heaven’s sake, Mr. Coyshe, do not say such things; you frighten me.’
He laughed.
She remained silent, uneasy and vexed. Presently she said, ‘It is not true; there is nothing the matter with me.’
‘But the stocking was under the sofa-cushion, and you said, Not true, at first. Wait and look.’
‘Doctor, it is not true at all. That is, I have a sort of trouble or pain, but it is all about Eve. I have been very unhappy about the loss of her money, and that has fretted me greatly.’
‘I foresaw it would be lost.’
‘Yes, it is lost, but Eve shall be no loser.’
‘Look here, Miss Jordan, a beautiful face is like a beautiful song, charming in itself, but infinitely better with an accompaniment.’
‘What do you mean, Mr. Coyshe?’