"
"And did it, Doctor?" Isobel asked eagerly. "I don't care, you
know, one bit whether he is nervous when there is a noise or not,
but for his sake I should be glad to know that he has got over it;
it has made him so unhappy."
"He has got over it, my dear; he went through the fight without
feeling the least nervous, and distinguished himself very much in
the charge, as the officer who commanded his troop has just told
me."
"Oh, I am glad--I am thankful, Doctor; no words can say how pleased
I am; I know that it would have made his whole life unhappy, and I
should have always had the thought that he remembered those hateful
words of mine."
"I am as glad as you are, Isobel, though I fancy it will change
our plans."
"How change our plans, Doctor? I did not know that I had any plans."
"I think you had, child, though you might not acknowledge them
even to yourself. My plan was that you should somehow convince him
that, in spite of what you said, and in spite of his leaving you
in that boat, you were quite content to take him for better or for
worse."
"How could I tell him that?" the girl said, coloring.
"Well, I think you would have had to do so somehow, my dear, but
that is not the question now. My plan was that when you had succeeded
in doing this you should marry him and go home with him."
"But why, Doctor," she asked, coloring even more hotly than before,
"is the plan changed?"
"Because, my dear, I don't think Bathurst will go home with you.
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