The doctor, hearing what passed between them, frowned. On what subject had they been differing? And what opinion did Emily decline to alter?
Alban gave it up. He took her hand gently. “Shall I see you at the Museum, to-morrow?” he asked.
She was politely indifferent to the last. “Yes—unless something happens to keep me at home.”
The doctor’s eyebrows still expressed disapproval. For what object was the meeting proposed? And why at a museum?
“Good-afternoon, Doctor Allday.”
“Good-afternoon, sir.”
For a moment after Alban’s departure, the doctor stood irresolute. Arriving suddenly at a decision, he snatched up his hat, and turned to Emily in a hurry.
“I bring you news, my dear, which will surprise you. Who do you think has just left my house? Mrs. Ellmother! Don’t interrupt me. She has made up her mind to go out to service again. Tired of leading an idle life—that’s her own account of it—and asks me to act as her reference.”
“Did you consent?”
“Consent! If I act as her reference, I shall be asked how she came to leave her last place. A nice dilemma! Either I must own that she deserted her mistress on her deathbed—or tell a lie. When I put it to her in that way, she walked out of the house in dead silence. If she applies to you next, receive her as I did—or decline to see her, which would be better still.”