"James!"
"Yes, sir?"
"Make the house fast when Madame Pratolungo and I have left it. I am not coming back again."
"Sir!"
"Pack my portmanteau, and send it after me to-morrow, to Nagle's Hotel, London."
He closed the door again, and came back to me.
"You refused to take my hand when you came in," he said. "Will you take it now? I leave Browndown when you leave it; and I won't come back again till I bring Oscar with me.
"Both hands!" I exclaimed—and took him by both hands. I could say nothing more. I could only wonder whether I was waking or sleeping; fit to be put into an asylum, or fit to go at large?
"Come!" he said. "I will see you as far as the rectory gate.
"You can't go to-night," I answered. "The last train has left hours since."