"
"Gum's wife has been nursing him, I hear?"
"She has gone in and out to do such necessary offices as the sick
require. I put it to her from a Christian point of view, you see, and on
the score of humanity. She was at hand; and that's a great thing where
the nurse is only a visiting one."
"Look here, Hillary; don't let the man want for anything; see that he has
all he needs. He is a black sheep, no doubt; but illness levels us all to
one standard. Good day."
"Good day, Lord Hartledon."
And when the surgeon had got to a distance with his quick step, Lord
Hartledon turned back to the Rectory.
CHAPTER XV.
VAL'S DILEMMA.
It was a mild day in spring. The air was balmy, but the skies were grey
and lowering; and as a gentleman strolled across a field adjoining
Hartledon Park he looked up at them more than once, as if asking whether
they threatened rain.
Not that he had any great personal interest in the question. Whether the
skies gave forth sunshine or rain is of little moment to a mind not at
rest. He had only looked up in listlessness. A stranger might have taken
him at a distance for a gamekeeper: his coat was of velveteen; his boots
were muddy: but a nearer inspection would have removed the impression.
It was Lord Hartledon; but changed since you last saw him. For some time
past there had been a worn, weary look upon his face, bespeaking a mind
ill at ease; the truth is, his conscience was not at rest, and in time
that tells on the countenance.
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