His surprise at this new and unexpected view of the contessa’s character was so great that it was only instinctively that he pressed the dainty hand which was held out to him. For a moment their eyes met.
“I wish that you and your wife might both have come into my life earlier,” she said, simply, and then turned quickly to the door and was in the tonneau of her motor-car before Armstrong could offer to assist her. So, as the machine moved away, he stood on the veranda, bowing his acknowledgment of her radiant smile into which a new element had entered.
Then Armstrong turned back into the hallway, where he met the doctor and Uncle Peabody coming down the stairs.
“Has she asked for me yet?” he inquired, eagerly.
“Not yet,” Dr. Montgomery answered, with that understanding which is a part of the physician’s profession. Armstrong turned away to conceal his face, which he felt must show all that was passing through his heart.
“I wish you would go to her, anyway,” the doctor continued.
“You don’t know what you are suggesting, doctor—I want to do it so much—but I must not.”
“It will be necessary to talk with her soon about our future plans, Jack,” Uncle Peabody said, seeing a way to accomplish their purpose. “Dr. Montgomery says that Helen is strong enough now to discuss the matter.”
Armstrong looked from one to the other with uncertainty. “You are right,” he said, at length. “She must be consulted about that, and I am the one to do it.”
He chose the morning for his visit to her—a morning filled with the sunshine she loved so well. He plucked a handful of the fragrant blossoms from the garden, hoping that the odor might recall to her some of the happy moments they had experienced together. The very perfume rising from the redolent petals seemed to accuse him as he stood before her door awaiting the nurse’s response to his knock.