Julian ordered the servants crowding together in
the doorway to withdraw. He followed them into the library,
leading Grace after him by the hand. Before closing the door he
paused, and looked back into the dining-room.
"Is she recovering?" he asked, after a moment's hesitation.
Lady Janet's voice answered him. "Not yet."
"Shall I send for the nearest doctor?"
Horace interposed. He declined to let Julian associate himself,
even in that indirect manner, with Mercy's recovery.
"If the doctor is wanted," he said, "I will go for him myself."
Julian closed the library door. He absently released Grace; he
mechanically pointed to a chair. She sat down in silent surprise,
following him with her eyes as he walked slowly to and fro in the
room.
For the moment his mind was far away from her, and from all that
had happened since her appearance in the house. It was impossible
that a man of his fineness of perception could mistake the
meaning of Horace's conduct toward him. He was questioning his
own heart, on the subject of Mercy, sternly and unreservedly as
it was his habit to do. "After only once seeing her," he thought,
"has she produced such an impression on me that Horace can
discover it, before I have even suspected it myself? Can the time
have come already when I owe it to my friend to see her no more?"
He stopped irritably in his walk.
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