All the rest of that fine hot day and most of the next he was content and peaceful,reposing in the shade,while the long lingering sunshine showered gold on the lawns and the flowers.But on Thursday evening at his lonely dinner he began to count the hours;sixty-five till he would go down to meet her again in the little coppice,and walk up through the fields at her side.He had intended to consult the doctor about his fainting fit,but the fellow would be sure to insist on quiet,no excitement and all that;and he did not mean to be tied by the leg,did not want to be told of an infirmity--if there were one,could not afford to hear of it at his time of life,now that this new interest had come.
And he carefully avoided making any mention of it in a letter to his son.It would only bring them back with a run!How far this silence was due to consideration for their pleasure,how far to regard for his own,he did not pause to consider.
That night in his study he had just finished his cigar and was dozing off,when he heard the rustle of a gown,and was conscious of a scent of violets.Opening his eyes he saw her,dressed in grey,standing by the fireplace,holding out her arms.The odd thing was that,though those arms seemed to hold nothing,they were curved as if round someone's neck,and her own neck was bent back,her lips open,her eyes closed.She vanished at once,and there were the mantelpiece and his bronzes.But those bronzes and the mantelpiece had not been there when she was,only the fireplace and the wall!Shaken and troubled,he got up.'I must take medicine,'he thought;'I can't be well.'His heart beat too fast,he had an asthmatic feeling in the chest;and going to the window,he opened it to get some air.A dog was barking far away,one of the dogs at Gage's farm no doubt,beyond the coppice.A beautiful still night,but dark.'I dropped off,'he mused,'that's it!And yet I'll swear my eyes were open!'A sound like a sigh seemed to answer.