him
as she had been before, that was quite out of the question, and yet how
was she to be different?

Ten days had passed without his coming. This was so unusual that an
idea came into her mind which terrified her, and the first time when the
Doctor came in and found her alone she said, "Of course, Dr. Wade, you
have not mentioned to Mr. Bathurst the conversation we had, but it is
curious his not having been here since."

"Certainly I mentioned it," the Doctor said calmly; "how could I do
otherwise? It was evident to me that he would not be welcomed here as he
was before, and I could not do otherwise than warn him of the change he
might expect to find, and to give him the reason for it."

Isobel stood the picture of dismay. "I don't think you had any right
to do so, Doctor," she said. "You have placed me in a most painful
position."

"In not so painful a one as it would have been, my dear, if he had
noticed the change himself, as he must have done, and asked for the
cause of it."

Isobel stood twisting her fingers over each other before her nervously.

"But what am I to do?" she asked.

"I do not see that there is anything more for you to do," the Doctor
said. "Mr. Bathurst may not be perfect in all respects, but he is
certainly too much of a gentleman to force his visits where they are
not wanted. I do not say he will not come here at all, for not to do so
after being here so much would create comment and talk in the station,
which would be as painful to you as to him, but he certainly will not
come here more often than is necessary to keep up appearances."

"I don't think you ought to have told him," Isobel repeated, much
distressed.

"I could not help it, my dear. You would force me to admit there was
some truth in the story Captain Forster told you, and I was, therefore,
obliged to acquaint him with the fact or he would have had just cause
to reproach me. Besides, you spoke of despising a man who was not
physically brave."

"You never told him that, Doctor; surely you never told him that?"

"I only told what it was necessary he should know, my dear, namely, that
you had heard the story, that you had questioned me, and that I, knowing
the facts from his lips, admitted that there was some foundation for the
story, while asserting that I was convinced that he was morally a brave
man. He did not ask how you took the news, nor did I volunteer any
information whatever on the subject, but he understood, I th