“Well?”
“Let’s keep this to ourselves. I’d much rather not tell the family anything about it. Wouldn’t you?”
“Much. It’s our affair.”
“I’ve hardly spent any of my allowance lately. We’ll go halves about the bills.… Don’t even tell Gordon, will you?”
“Gordon? He’s about the last person I’d tell.”
Here the doctor returned, followed by Major Stroud. They closed the bedroom door softly.
“Nothing to worry about,” the doctor told them cheerfully, in that hearty voice common to the medical profession. “A man might come off worse in the hunting field any day, and no one make a fuss about it. Slight concussion and bruises, and that’s all, young lady.”
“Well, it’s quite enough,” said she. “I hate concussions. And there really are no bones broken? You’re not trying to spare our feelings?”
“Word of honor as a father of seven. You can come and see your victim with your own eyes in a day or two. Major Stroud will spend the night here on the sofa, and the nurse will be on hand in the morning, if she’s wanted. So now, Miss Juggernaut, you may roll home with a peaceful mind.”
“You’ve cheered us up a lot, sir,” said Noel, shaking hands with him.