'I suppose I must go to them,' she said, slowly rising from her seat; and it seemed to Mrs. Orme that she was forced to hold by the table to support herself.
'Mr. Furnival is a friend, is he not?'
'Oh, yes! a kind friend, but———'
'They shall come in here if you like it better, dear.'
'Oh, no! I will go to them. It would not do that I should seem so weak. What must you think of me to see me so?'
'I do not wonder at it, dear,' said Mrs. Orme, coming round to her; 'such cruelty would kill me. I wonder at your strength rather than your weakness.' And then she kissed her. What was there about the woman that had made all those fond of her that came near her?
Mrs. Orme walked with her across the hall, and left her only at the library door. There she pressed her hand and again kissed her, and then Lady Mason turned the handle of the door and entered the room. Mr. Furnival, when he looked at her, was startled by the pallor of her face, but nevertheless he thought that she had never looked so beautiful. 'Dear Lady Mason,' said he, 'I hope you are well.'
Sir Peregrine advanced to her and handed her over to his own arm-chair. Had she been a queen in distress she could not have been treated with more gentle deference. But she never seemed to count upon this, or in any way to assume it as her right. I should accuse her of what I regard as a sin against all good taste were I to say that she was humble in her demeanour; but there was a soft meekness about her, an air of feminine dependence, a proneness to lean and almost to cling as she leaned, which might have been felt as irresistible by any man. She was a woman to know in her deep sorrow rather than in her joy and happiness; one with whom one would love to weep rather than to rejoice. And, indeed, the present was a time with her for weeping, not for rejoicing.
Sir Peregrine looked as though he were her father as he took her hand, and the barrister immediately comforted himself with the remembrance of the baronet's great age. It was natural, too, that Lady Mason should hang on him in his own house. So Mr. Furnival contented himself at the first moment with touching her hand and hoping that she was well. She answered hardly a word to either of them, but she attempted to smile as she sat down, and murmured something about the trouble she was giving them.
'Mr. Furnival thinks it best that you should be made aware of the steps which are being taken by Mr. Mason of Groby Park,' began Sir Peregrine. 'I am no lawyer myself, and therefore of course I cannot put my advice against his.'
'I am sure that both of you will tell me for the best,' she said.
'In such a matter as this it is right that you should be guided by
