The boy staggered away dazed. He was conscious of the hum of voices, with Tom’s laugh above all, in the room behind; of the long curve of carriage lights waiting in the garden without; of the trophy of flowers and pampas on either side of the staircase. Then, as the doctor stepped forward and softly opened a door, he followed like one in a dream.
For an hour the dull roll of carriages came and went on the drive, and the cheery babel of departing voices broke the still morning air.
But two guests left Maxfield that night unexpectedly.
One was the soul of a good lady; the other was the horsewhipped body of a bad man.
Chapter Fifteen.
Strong Hearts and Weak Tempers.
In the sad confusion which followed upon Mrs Ingleton’s sudden death, no one appeared to remark the abrupt departure of Mr Robert Ratman. Roger certainly never bestowed a thought on the occurrence, and if any of the other members of the household thought twice about it, they all—even Jill—kept their ideas on the subject to themselves.
To Roger the week that followed his twentieth birthday was the most dismal of his life. When a similar blow had fallen months ago he had been too bewildered and benumbed to realise fully his own loss. Now he realised everything only too vividly.