"This is all sheer nonsense," said Mr. Sheldon.
"It is nonsense about which you must let me have my own way," replied Valentine, resolutely. "My stake on this hazard is too heavy for careless play. I shall go back to town at once and seek out a physician."
"If you go today, you will inevitably alarm Charlotte."
"True; and disappoint her into the bargain. I suppose in such a case tomorrow will do as well as to-day?"
"I can go by the first train, and return with my doctor in the afternoon. Yes, I will go tomorrow."
Mr. Sheldon breathed more freely. There are cases in which to obtain time for thought seems the one essential thing--cases in which a reprieve is as good as a pardon.
"Pray let us consider this business quietly," he said, with a faint sigh of weariness. "There is no necessity for all this excitement. You can go to town to-morrow, by the first train, as you say. If it is any satisfaction to you to bring down a physician, bring one; bring half a dozen, if you please. But, for the last time, I most emphatically assure you that anything that tends to alarm Charlotte is the one thing of all others most sure to hinder her recovery."
"I know that. She shall not be frightened; but she shall have a better adviser than Dr. Doddleson. And now I will go back to the house. She will wonder at my absence."
He went to the bright, airy room where Charlotte was seated, her head lying back upon the pillows, her face paler, her glances and tones more languid than on the previous day as it seemed to Valentine. Diana was near her, solicitous and tender; and on the other side of the window sat Mrs. Sheldon, with her Dissenting minister's biography open on her lap.
All through that day Valentine Hawkehurst played his part bravely: it was a hard and bitter part to play--the part of hope and confidence while unutterable fears were rending his heart. He read the epistle and gospel of the day to his betrothed; and afterwards some chapters of St. John--those profoundly mournful chapters that foreshadow the agonising close. It was Charlotte who selected these chapters, and her lover could find no excuse for disputing her choice.
It was the first time that they had shared any religious exercise, and the hearts of both were deeply touched by the thought of this.