"Bad signs, very, my dear. Married men have no right to have secrets from their wives."
"If he would but confide in me! If he would but tell me what the secret trouble is that is slowly eating away his life!"
"I remember that when the Dean of Rathdrum leaned over the back of my chair, and whispered 'My darling Jane, I'"----
"Here comes Gerald!" cried Mrs. Brooke. She started to her feet, while a glad light leapt into her eyes, and ran out on the terrace to meet him. "What a time you have been away!" she said, as he stooped and kissed her. "And your hair and clothes are quite wet."
"It is nothing," he answered. "I was caught in a shower in the wood."
"Poor fellow! He certainly does look very haggard and dejected," remarked Miss Primby to herself.
"Have you been far?" asked Clara.
"Only as far as Beaulieu."
"You called on the baron, of course."
"No. I changed my mind at the last moment."