"
"Was Hillary here this morning? Nobody's ill?" asked Lord Hartledon,
quickly.
"No one at all, my lord. The countess-dowager sent for him, to ask what
her diet had better be, and how she could guard against infection more
effectually than she was doing. She did not allow him to come in, but
spoke to him from one of the upper windows, with a cloak and respirator
on."
Lord Hartledon looked at his butler; the man was suppressing a grim
smile.
"Nonsense, Hedges!"
"It's quite true, my lord. Mrs. Mirrable says she has five bowls of
disinfectant in their rooms."
Lord Hartledon broke into a laugh, not suppressed.
"And in the courtyard, looking towards the Rectory, as may be said,
there's several pitch-pots alight night and day," added Hedges. "We have
had a host of people up, wanting to know if the place is on fire."
"What a joke!" cried Val--who was not yet beyond the age to enjoy such
jokes. "Hedges," he resumed, in a more confidential tone, "no strangers
have been here inquiring for me, I suppose?"
He alluded to creditors, or people acting for them. To a careless man, as
Val had been, it was a difficult matter to know whether all his debts
were paid or not. He had settled what he remembered; but there might be
others. Hedges understood; and his voice fell to the same low tone: he
had been pretty cognizant of the embarrassments of Mr.
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