"I hope not."
Perhaps he was conscious that he might have made a more positive reply.
He certainly took refuge in another subject--more agreeable to himself.
"My dear, you have expressed the wish to relieve my anxieties," he
said; "and you can help me, I think, in that way. I have a letter to
write--of some importance, Iris, to your interests as well as to
mine--which must go to Ireland by to-day's post. You shall read it, and
say if you approve of what I have done. Don't let me be disturbed. This
letter, I can tell you, will make a hard demand on my poor brains--I
must go and write in my own room."
Left alone with the thoughts that now crowded on her mind, Iris found
her attention claimed once more by passing events. Fanny Mere arrived,
to report herself on her return from Paris.
She had so managed her departure from Passy as to precede Lord Harry
and Mr. Vimpany, and to watch for their arrival in Paris by a later
train. They had driven from the railway to the newspaper office---with
the maid in attendance on them in another cab. When they separated, the
doctor proceeded on foot to the Luxembourg Gardens. Wearing a plain
black dress, and protected from close observation by her veil, Fanny
followed him, cautiously keeping at a sufficient distance, now on one
side of the street and now on the other.
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