"But what have you to be afraid of at any time, uncle?"
He cast his eyes slowly around as if to make sure that they were alone. Then leaning forward, he said in a whisper: "Sometimes--God help me!--I fear for my life."
Burgo started. Was it because Sir Everard's words had sufficed to give a definite shape and consistency to certain half-fledged suspicions of his own?
He did not reply, not, indeed, knowing what to say, but waited to hear more. "Then, again, there are times," resumed the baronet, "when I cast the fear--the thought--the suspicion (call it what you will) from me as utterly unworthy of me--wholly degrading--nay, far worse than degrading to her; times when I tell myself that old age is creeping upon me, that my constitution is breaking up (a few years earlier, maybe, than at one time I thought it would), and that, the circumstances being such as they are, I ought to deem myself one of the most fortunate of mortals, seeing that in Giulia I have secured one of the most devoted of nurses and the most affectionate of wives."
Burgo felt that it was expected of him to say something; and yet, on so delicate a topic, and one about which he knew so little, would it not be an impertinence on his part to venture on an opinion of any kind?
"I presume, sir, that you have not gone all this time without seeking medical advice?" was his diplomatic remark.
"Certainly not. I had only been three days at home when I sent for Hoskins, who knows my constitution, if anybody does. He's attending me still; but, if a frequent change of physic may be taken as any criterion, he's puzzled what to make of me; though, of course, he would be the last man in the world to admit it. In fact, I've tried to pin him down more than once to a definite opinion, but there's nothing to be got out of him save vague generalities."
Not for some weeks had he talked so much in so short a time. The excitement of meeting his nephew had lent him a fictitious strength, but the effort now told upon him. "Pour me out three-parts of a wine-glassful of that green stuff," he said, indicating a bottle on a side table, "and then fill it up with water."
Having swallowed the cordial, he lay back for a little space with closed eyes. But presently he roused himself, and looked at his watch. "Her ladyship is past her time," he said; "she may be here at any moment."
A curiously apprehensive expression showed itself in his eyes, and Burgo seemed to detect a distinct note of timidity in his voice when he spoke next.