Emily kept her temper. “Allow me to remind you,” she said, “that Mr. Mirabel is not acquainted with Mrs. Rook—and that I am. If I speak to her personally, I can do much to assist the object of our inquiries, before he returns. She is not an easy woman to deal with—”
“And therefore,” Mrs. Delvin interposed, “the sort of person who requires careful handling by a man like my brother—a man of the world.”
“The sort of person, as I venture to think,” Emily persisted, “whom I ought to see with as little loss of time as possible.”
Mrs. Delvin waited a while before she replied. In her condition of health, anxiety was not easy to bear. Mrs. Rook’s letter and Emily’s obstinacy had seriously irritated her. But, like all persons of ability, she was capable, when there was serious occasion for it, of exerting self-control. She really liked and admired Emily; and, as the elder woman and the hostess, she set an example of forbearance and good humor.
“It is out of my power to send you to Redwood Hall at once,” she resumed. “The only one of my three horses now at your disposal is the horse which took my brother to the Hall this morning. A distance, there and back, of twenty miles. You are not in too great a hurry, I am sure, to allow the horse time to rest?”
Emily made her excuses with perfect grace and sincerity. “I had no idea the distance was so great,” she confessed. “I will wait, dear Mrs. Delvin, as long as you like.”
They parted as good friends as ever—with a certain reserve, nevertheless, on either side. Emily’s eager nature was depressed and irritated by the prospect of delay. Mrs. Delvin, on the other hand (devoted to her brother’s interests), thought hopefully of obstacles which might present themselves with the lapse of time. The horse might prove to be incapable of further exertion for that day. Or the threatening aspect of the weather might end in a storm.
But the hours passed—and the sky cleared—and the horse was reported to be fit for work again. Fortune was against the lady of the tower; she had no choice but to submit.
Mrs. Delvin had just sent word to Emily that the carriage would be ready for her in ten minutes, when the coachman who had driven Mirabel to Belford returned. He brought news which agreeably surprised both the ladies. Mirabel had reached the station five minutes too late; the coachman had left him waiting the arrival of the next train to the North. He would now receive the telegraphic message at Belford, and might return immediately by taking the groom’s horse. Mrs. Delvin left it to Emily to decide whether she would proceed by herself to Redwood Hall, or wait for Mirabel’s return.
Under the changed circumstances, Emily would have acted ungraciously if she had persisted in holding to her first intention. She consented to wait.