“Never mind, never mind, dear Herbert!  You are better.  Couldn’t you let me help you to the sofa?”

“Oh, presently;” and as she took his head on her lap, “Thank you; I did mean to hold out till after this day’s work; but it is all right now Bindon is come.”

“Come!—­is he?” she joyfully exclaimed.

“Yes, I saw him from the window.  I was getting up to hail him when the room turned upside down with me.”

“There’s his step!” now exclaimed Rosamond.  “Squeeze in, Mr. Bindon; you are a very welcome sight.”

Mr. Bindon did make his way in, and stood dismayed at the black mass on the floor.  Rosamond and Rollo, one on each side of Herbert’s great figure, in his cassock, and the rosy face deadly white, while Mungo and Tartar, who hated Mr. Bindon, both began to bark, and thus did the most for their master, whose call of ‘Quiet! you brutes,’ seemed to give him sudden strength.  He took a grip of Rollo’s curly back, and, supported by Mr. Bindon, dragged himself to the sofa and fell heavily back on it.

“Give him some brandy,” said Mr. Bindon, hastily.

“There’s not a drop of anything,” muttered Herbert; “it’s all gone—­ "

“To Wil’sbro’,” explained Rosamond; then seeing the scared face of Dilemma at the door, she hastily gave a message, and sent her flying to the Rectory, while Mr. Bindon was explaining.

“I wish I had known.  I never will go out of the reach of letters again.  I saw in the Times, at Innspruck, a mention of typhoid fever here, and I came back as fast as trains would bring me; but too late, I fear.”

“You are welcome, indeed,” repeated Rosamond.  “Herbert has broken down at last, after doing more than man could do, and I am most thankful that my husband should be saved the funerals at Wil’sbro’.”

Mr. Bindon, whose face showed how shocked he was, made a few inquiries.  He had learnt the main facts on his way, but had been seeking his junior to hear the details, and he looked, like the warrior who had missed Thermopylae, ashamed and grieved at his holiday.

The bottle Rosamond had sent for arrived, and there was enough vigour restored to make her say, “Here’s a first service, Mr. Bindon, to help this poor fellow into bed.”

“No, no!” exclaimed Herbert.

“You are not going to say there’s nothing the matter with you?” said Rosamond, as a flush passed over the pale face.

“No,” he said; “but I want to go home.  I should have taken a fly at Wil’sbro’.  Cranky will see to me without bothering anybody else.  If you would send for one—­”

“I don’t think I can till I know whether you are fit to move,” said Rosamond.  “I desired Dilemma to tell them to send Dr. Worth here when he comes to Terry.  Besides, is it quite right to carry this into another place?”

“I never thought of that,” said Herbert.  “But they would shut me up; nobody come near me but Cranky.”  But there a shivering fit caught him, so that the sofa shook with him, and Rosamond covered him with rugs, and again told him bed was the only place for him, and he consented at last, holding his head as he rose, dizzy with the ache.