I may as well tell you so at once; but I will
try and persuade her to see you, though she sent me word just now that she
would not come in while you were here. It is fair enough that you should
hear the truth from her own lips, but I know the interview will be painful
to you both," and Mr. Sherwood pulled the bell-cord that hung above him.
"Tell Dexie I wish to see her here for a few minutes," he said, as Jarvis
answered the summons.
"She has gone out, Mr. Sherwood, and she left word that she would not be
back till tea-time," and she glanced at the foreign-looking gentleman who
made himself so very much at home.
"Very well, that will do," and Jarvis left the room.
"You see how it is, Hugh; she has run out on purpose to get clear of you."
"But that is no sign that I need despair," and there was a happier look in
his eyes than there had been since he heard she was lost to him.
"Ask me to stay, Mr. Sherwood, for I cannot go away till I see her. I must
learn the truth from herself before I leave the house," and the
well-remembered impetuosity of old was visible in his words.
"Certainly, Hugh; stay, of course, but I fear you will not find your
refusal as pleasantly spoken as if you had taken it at second-hand," and a
feeble smile parted his lips for a moment.
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