She went away in a state of mind which is dangerous when it possesses a
woman of determination. The feminine mind loves to understand motives
and intentions; it hates to be puzzled. Fanny was puzzled. Fanny could
not understand what had been intended and what was now meant. For,
first, a man, apparently dying, had been brought into the house--why?
Then the man began slowly to recover, and the doctor, whose attentions
had always been of the most slender character, grew more morose every
day. Then he suddenly, on the very day when he sent her away, became
cheerful, congratulated the patient on his prospect of recovery, and
assisted in getting him out of bed for a change. The cook having been
sent away, there was now no one in the house but the Dane, the doctor,
and Lord Harry.
Man hunts wild creatures; woman hunts man. Fanny was impelled by the
hunting instinct. She was sent out of the house to prevent her hunting;
she began to consider next, how, without discovery, she could return
and carry on the hunt.
Everything conspired to drive her back: the mystery of the thing; the
desire to baffle, or at least to discover, a dark design; the wish to
be of service to her mistress; and the hope of finding out something
which would keep Iris from going back to her husband.
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