"Grimes, the stable-help, is your man. Ring for him."
So, presently Grimes drove off with the horse and cab, being also the bearer of a message from Burgo to Mr. Hendry.
"And now assist me upstairs to my own room," said Sir Everard, when the man was gone.
It had been a room well-known to Burgo of old, and perhaps was the only one in the house which had not been more or less transmogrified by Lady Clinton. Its furniture was dark, substantial, and old-fashioned. Two of its sides were lined with mahogany cases crammed with coins, medals, and curios of various kinds. Of late, however, Sir Everard seemed to have lost all interest in his old pursuits. On the floor stood a couple of unopened boxes containing purchases forwarded to him by one of his agents from abroad, but as yet he had not had the heart to open them. It was a fact which proclaimed more eloquently than words the pass to which he had been brought. As soon as the baronet had been relieved of his overcoat, and established in his own particular chair, he said: "You see a great change in me, don't you, my boy?"
"I do indeed, sir."
"You, too, are altered, I hardly know how, but there's a difference. It seems to me that you get more like your mother every time I see you."
"It's a long time since you saw me last, uncle."
"So it is--more's the pity. How long? But never mind now. If her ladyship wants to bundle you out, you will refuse to go, eh?"
"You already have my promise, sir. Here I am, and here I will stay till you yourself order me to begone."
"With you here, Burgo, I shall have nothing to be afraid of."