upon his horse, and Tupcombe was
afraid every moment lest he would fall into the road. But they did reach
home at last, and Mr. Dornell was instantly assisted to bed.

* * * * *

Next morning it was obvious that he could not possibly go to
King's-Hintock for several days at least, and there on the bed he lay,
cursing his inability to proceed on an errand so personal and so delicate
that no emissary could perform it. What he wished to do was to ascertain
from Betty's own lips if her aversion to Reynard was so strong that his
presence would be positively distasteful to her. Were that the case, he
would have borne her away bodily on the saddle behind him.

But all that was hindered now, and he repeated a hundred times in
Tupcombe's hearing, and in that of the nurse and other servants, 'I wish
to God something would happen to him!'

This sentiment, reiterated by the Squire as he tossed in the agony
induced by the powerful drugs of the day before, entered sharply into the
soul of Tupcombe and of all who were attached to the house of Dornell, as
distinct from the house of his wife at King's-Hintock. Tupcombe, who was
an excitable man, was hardly less disquieted by the thought of Reynard's
return than the Squire himself was. As the week drew on, and the
afternoon advanced at which Reynard would in all probability be passing
near Falls on his way to the Court, the Squire's feelings became acuter,
and the responsive Tupcombe could hardly bear to come near him. Having
left him in the hands of the doctor, the former went out upon the lawn,
for he could hardly breathe in the contagion of excitement caught from
the employer who had virtually made him his confidant. He had lived with
the Dornells from his boyhood, had been born under the shadow of their
walls; his whole life was annexed and welded to the life of the family in
a degree which has no counterpart in these latter days.

He was summoned indoors, and learnt that it had been decided to send for
Mrs. Dornell: her husband was in great danger. There were two or three
who could have acted as messenger, but Dornell wished Tupcombe to go, the
reason showing itself when, Tupcombe being ready to start, Squire Dornell
summoned him to his chamber and leaned down so that he could whisper in
his ear:

'Put Peggy along smart, Tupcombe, and get there before him, you
know--before him. This is the day he fixed. He has not passed Falls
cross-roads yet. If you can do that yo