"I really think you would, tough as it is. One gets so fond of an unselfish patient. You cannot think how rare they are, dear. You are a pearl. I cannot afford to lose you.""Then you shall not," said Ina, firmly. "Know that I, who seem so weak, am a woman of great resolution. I will follow good counsel; I will postpone all dangerous topics till I am stronger; I will live. For I will not grieve the true friends calamity has raised me."Of course Fanny told Zoe all about this interview. She listened gloomily;and all she said was, "Sisters do not go for much when a man is in love.""Do brothers, when a woman is?" said Fanny.
"I dare say they go for as much as they are worth.""Zoe, that is not fair. Harrington is full of affection for you. But you will not go near him. Any other man would be very angry. Do pray make an effort, and come down to dinner to-day.""No, no. He has you and his Klosking. And I have my broken heart. I _am_alone; and so will be all alone."
She cried and sobbed, but she was obstinate, and Fanny could only let her have her own way in that.
Another question was soon disposed of. When Fanny invited her into the sickroom, she said, haughtily, "I go there no more. Cure her, and send her away--if Harrington will let her go. I dare say she is to be pitied.""Of course she is. She is your fellow-victim, if you would only let yourself see it.""Unfortunately, instead of pitying her, I hate her. She has destroyed my happiness, and done herself no good. He does not love her, and never will."Fanny found herself getting angry, so she said no more; for she was determined nothing should make her quarrel with poor Zoe; but after dinner, being _te'te-'a-te'te_ with Vizard, she told him she was afraid Zoe could not see things as they were; and she asked him if he had any idea what had become of Severne.
"Fled the country, I suppose."
"Are you sure he is not lurking about?"
"What for?"
"To get a word with Zoe--alone."
"He will not come near this. I will break every bone in his skin if he does.""But he is so sly; he might hang about."
"What for? She never goes out; and if she did, have you so poor an opinion of her as to think she would speak to him?""Oh, no! and she would forbid him to speak to her. But he would be sure to persist; and he has such wonderful powers of explanation, and she is blinded by love, I think he would make her believe black was white, if he had a chance; and if he is about, he will get a chance some day. She is doing the very worst thing she could--shutting herself up so. Any moment she will turn wild, and rush out reckless. She is in a dangerous state, you mark my words; she is broken-hearted, and yet she is bitter against everybody, except that young villain, and he is the only enemy she has in the world. I don't believe Mademoiselle Klosking ever wronged her, nor ever will. Appearances are against her; but she is a good woman, or I am a fool. Take my advice, Harrington, and be on your guard. If he had written a penitent letter to Mademoiselle Klosking, that would be a different thing; but he ignores her, and that frightens me for Zoe."Harrington would not admit that Zoe needed any other safeguard against a detected scoundrel than her own sense of dignity. He consented, however, to take precautions, if Fanny would solemnly promise not to tell Zoe, and so wound her. On that condition, he would see his head-keeper tomorrow, and all the keepers and watchers should be posted so as to encircle the parish with vigilance. He assured Fanny these fellows had a whole system of signals to the ear and eye, and Severne could not get within a mile of the house undetected. "But," said he, "I will not trust to that alone. Iwill send an advertisement to the local papers and the leading London journals, so worded that the scoundrel shall know his forgery is detected, and that he will be arrested on a magistrate's warrant if he sets foot in Barfordshire."Fanny said that was capital, and, altogether, he had set her mind at rest.
"Then do as much for me," said Vizard. "Please explain a remarkable phenomenon. You were always a bright girl, and no fool; but not exactly what humdrum people would call a good girl. You are not offended?""The idea! Why, I have publicly disowned goodness again and again. You have heard me.""So I have. But was not that rather deceitful of you? for you have turned out as good as gold. Anxiety has kept me at home of late, and I have watched you. You live for others; you are all over the house to serve two suffering _women._ That is real charity, not sexual charity, which humbugs the world, but not me. You are cook, housemaid, butler, nurse, and friend to both of them. In an interval of your time, so creditably employed, you come and cheer me up with your bright little face, and give me wise advice. I know that women are all humbugs; only you are a humbug reversed, and deserve a statue--and trimmings. You have been passing yourself off for a naughty girl, and all the time you were an extra good one.""And that puzzles the woman-hater, the cynical student, who says he has fathomed woman. My poor dear Harrington, if you cannot read so shallow a character as I am, how will you get on with those ladies upstairs--Zoe, who is as deep as the sea, and turbid with passion, and the Klosking, who is as deep as the ocean?"She thought a moment and said, "There, I will have pity on you. You shall understand one woman before you die, and that is me. I'll give you the clew to my seeming inconsistencies--if _you_ will give _me_ a cigarette.""What! another hidden virtue? You smoke?""Not I, except when I happen to be with a noble soul who won't tell."Vizard found her a Russian cigarette, and lighted his own cigar, and she lectured as follows:
