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to whom you are inestimably precious, and who are determined not to let your happiness be sacrificed. I am one of them, and (for Heavenā€™s sake keep this a secret also!) Sir Patrick is the other.ā€

Absorbed in the letter, and in the conflict of opposite feelings which it rousedā ā€”her color rising when it turned her thoughts inward on herself, and fading again when she was reminded by it of the coming visitā ā€”Anne was called back to a sense of present events by the reappearance of the servant, charged with a message. Mr. Speedwell had been for some time in the cottage, and he was now waiting to see her downstairs.

Anne found the surgeon alone in the drawing-room. He apologized for disturbing her at that early hour.

ā€œIt was impossible for me to get to Fulham yesterday,ā€ he said, ā€œand I could only make sure of complying with Lord Holchesterā€™s request by coming here before the time at which I receive patients at home. I have seen Mr. Delamayn, and I have requested permission to say a word to you on the subject of his health.ā€

Anne looked through the window, and saw Geoffrey smoking his pipeā ā€”not in the back garden, as usual, but in front of the cottage, where he could keep his eye on the gate.

ā€œIs he ill?ā€ she asked.

ā€œHe is seriously ill,ā€ answered Mr. Speedwell. ā€œI should not otherwise have troubled you with this interview. It is a matter of professional duty to warn you, as his wife, that he is in danger. He may be seized at any moment by a paralytic stroke. The only chance for himā ā€”a very poor one, I am bound to sayā ā€”is to make him alter his present mode of life without loss of time.ā€

ā€œIn one way he will be obliged to alter it,ā€ said Anne. ā€œHe has received notice from the landlady to quit this cottage.ā€

Mr. Speedwell looked surprised.

ā€œI think you will find that the notice has been withdrawn,ā€ he said. ā€œI can only assure you that Mr. Delamayn distinctly informed me, when I advised change of air, that he had decided, for reasons of his own, on remaining here.ā€

(Another in the series of incomprehensible domestic events! Hester Dethridgeā ā€”on all other occasions the most immovable of womenā ā€”had changed her mind!)

ā€œSetting that aside,ā€ proceeded the surgeon, ā€œthere are two preventive measures which I feel bound to suggest. Mr. Delamayn is evidently suffering (though he declines to admit it himself) from mental anxiety. If he is to have a chance for his life, that anxiety must be set at rest. Is it in your power to relieve it?ā€

ā€œIt is not even in my power, Mr. Speedwell, to tell you what it is.ā€

The surgeon bowed, and went on:

ā€œThe second caution that I have to give you,ā€ he said, ā€œis to keep him from drinking spirits. He admits having committed an excess in that way the night before last. In his state of health, drinking means literally death. If he goes back to the brandy-bottleā ā€”forgive me for saying it plainly; the matter is too serious to be trifled withā ā€”if he goes back to the brandy-bottle, his life, in my opinion, is not worth five minutesā€™ purchase. Can you keep him from drinking?ā€

Anne answered sadly and plainly:

ā€œI have no influence over him. The terms we are living on hereā ā€”ā€

Mr. Speedwell considerately stopped her.

ā€œI understand,ā€ he said. ā€œI will see his brother on my way home.ā€ He looked for a moment at Anne. ā€œYou are far from well yourself,ā€ he resumed. ā€œCan I do anything for you?ā€

ā€œWhile I am living my present life, Mr. Speedwell, not even your skill can help me.ā€

The surgeon took his leave. Anne hurried back upstairs, before Geoffrey could re-enter the cottage. To see the man who had laid her life wasteā ā€”to meet the vindictive hatred that looked furtively at her out of his eyesā ā€”at the moment when sentence of death had been pronounced on him, was an ordeal from which every finer instinct in her nature shrank in horror.

Hour by hour, the morning wore on, and he made no attempt to communicate with her, Stranger still, Hester Dethridge never appeared. The servant came upstairs to say goodbye; and went away for her holiday. Shortly afterward, certain sounds reached Anneā€™s ears from the opposite side of the passage. She heard the strokes of a hammer, and then a noise as of some heavy piece of furniture being moved. The mysterious repairs were apparently being begun in the spare room.

She went to the window. The hour was approaching at which Sir Patrick and Blanche might be expected to make the attempt to see her.

For the third time, she looked at the letter.

It suggested, on this occasion, a new consideration to her. Did the strong measures which Sir Patrick had taken in secret indicate alarm as well as sympathy? Did he believe she was in a position in which the protection of the law was powerless to reach her? It seemed just possible. Suppose she were free to consult a magistrate, and to own to him (if words could express it) the vague presentiment of danger which was then present in her mindā ā€”what proof could she produce to satisfy the mind of a stranger? The proofs were all in her husbandā€™s favor. Witnesses could testify to the conciliatory words which he had spoken to her in their presence. The evidence of his mother and brother would show that he had preferred to sacrifice his own pecuniary interests rather than consent to part with her. She could furnish nobody with the smallest excuse, in her case, for interfering between man and wife. Did Sir Patrick see this? And did Blancheā€™s description of what he and Arnold Brinkworth were doing point to the conclusion that they were taking the law into their own hands in despair? The more she thought of it, the more likely it seemed.

She was still pursuing the train of thought thus suggested, when the gate-bell rang.

The noises in the spare room suddenly stopped.

Anne looked out. The roof of a carriage was visible on the other

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