Here his courage seemed to desert him, for he hesitated.
"Knock, squire, knock, and ask if it is true," said a woman, the same
who had declared that she would have hugged her husband back to life.
This remark seemed to encourage the man, at any rate he did knock.
Presently the door was opened by Elizabeth.
"Go away," she said in her sharp voice; "the house must be kept quiet."
"I beg your pardon, Miss Granger," said the visitor, in a tone of deep
humiliation. "I only wanted to know if it was true that Miss Beatrice
lives."
"Why," said Elizabeth with a start, "is it you, Mr. Davies? I am sure I
had no idea. Step into the passage and I will shut the door. There! How
long have you been outside?"
"Oh, since they brought them up. But is it true?"
"Yes, yes, it is true. She will recover now. And you have stood all this
time in the wet night. I am sure that Beatrice ought to be flattered."
"Not at all. It seemed so awful, and--I--I take such an interest----"
and he broke off.
"Such an interest in Beatrice," said Elizabeth drily, supplying the
hiatus. "Yes, so it seems," and suddenly, as though by chance, she moved
the candle which she held, in such fashion that the light fell full
upon Owen Davies' face.
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