"If you don't mind, I'd rather not talk," he said.
He let Whitney row the doctor off when he arrived; and day was breaking when they reached Annan. An hour later, Andrew, feeling limp and cold, got down from a trap at Appleyard and walked stiffly into the hall. Elsie came to meet him with a glow in her eyes; but she stopped abruptly when she saw his face.
He looked at her compassionately and she gasped.
He put his arm around her and led her to an oak bench near the big fireplace.
"Dick's dead," he said quietly. "On board the _Rowan_. Heart failure, the doctor thinks."
"I sent him, when I knew he was ill!" she cried in distress.
"You didn't know it would do him much harm, dear."
"But I did!" Elsie moaned with a shiver, turning her head.
Andrew was puzzled, but he answered soothingly:
"I know what you feel, because I felt it too--Dick might have got better and lived a long time if he hadn't gone down-channel to warn me. In fact, I spoke to the doctor about it, but he didn't altogether take this view."
"No; I don't think that was it. But it's a blow to us both, and the worst is I can do nothing to soften it for you."
"You loved him," she said with a look of pain. "You came home from Canada and fought Williamson for his sake. I was often impatient with him, and he always bore it well. He was generous and forgiving--and we know he was brave. He must have known the risk he ran--but he didn't hesitate. I knew it--and I sent him--"
Her voice trailed off and she broke into stormy sobbing, while Andrew, with his arm around her, awkwardly tried to comfort her. His touch seemed to have a soothing influence, for Elsie got calmer.
"You were always a help, Andrew; one turns to you in trouble," she said. "But I mustn't give way like this."
She rose as she spoke, and when she left him Andrew went up to Whitney's room.
"I expect Miss Woodhouse feels the thing keenly," Whitney said.
"Yes; in fact, she feels much as I do, in spite of what the doctor said. If Dick hadn't gone to our rescue, he'd have been with us yet. Still, I don't quite understand--"
"You don't see why she let him go, when she thought it might be dangerous?"
"Yes; that's what bothers me," Andrew said with some hesitation.
Whitney gave him a keen glance. He saw that Andrew had no suspicion of the truth; but it was not his business to enlighten him.
