"Diana," said her husband tenderly, "is it bad news?"
There was a pause, and he waited.
"Just go down," she managed with great difficulty to say. "There is nothing the matter with me. I'll come by and by. I'll just lie still a little."
She had not shown her face, and the minister quietly withdrew, feeling that here was more than appeared on the surface. There was enough appearing on the surface to make him uneasy; and he paid no attention to Miss Collins, who brought in the supper and bustled about rather more than was necessary.
"Don't ring the bell, Jemima," Mr. Masters said. "Mrs. Masters is not coming down."
Miss Collins went on to make the tea. That was always Diana's business.
"What ails her?" she asked abruptly.
"You ought to know," said the minister. "What did she complain of."
"Complain!" echoed the handmaiden. "She was as well as you be, not five minutes afore you come in."
"How do you know?"