In the last few days, the old feeling touching Lucy had been revived with unpleasant force.  Since that night which she had spent at his house, when they saw, or fancied they saw, a man hiding himself under the tree, he had thought of her more than was agreeable; more than was right, he would have said, but that he saw not how to avoid it.  The little episode of this morning at his mother’s house had served to open his eyes most completely, to show him how intense was his love for Lucy Tempest.  It must be confessed that his wife did little towards striving to retain his love.

He went along, thinking of these things.  He would have put them from him; but he could not.  The more he tried, the more unpleasantly vivid they became.  “Tush!” said Lionel.  “I must be getting nervous!  I’ll ask Jan to give me a draught.”

He was passing Dr. West’s as he spoke, and he turned into the surgery.  Sitting on the bung of a large stone jar was Master Cheese, his attitude a disconsolate one, his expression of countenance rebellious.

“Is Mr. Jan at home?” asked Lionel.

“No, he’s not at home, sir,” replied Master Cheese, as if the fact were some personal grievance of his own.  “Here’s all the patients, all the making up of the physic left in my charge, and I’d like to know how I am to do it?  I can’t go out to fifty folks at a time?”

“And so you expedite the matter by not going to one!  Where is Mr. Jan?”

“He was fetched out in the night to that beautiful Ally Hook,” grumbled Master Cheese.  “It’s a shame, sir, folks are saying, for him to give his time to her.  I had to leave my warm bed and march out to that fanciful Mother Ellis, through it, who’s always getting the spasms.  And I had about forty poor here this morning, and couldn’t get a bit of comfortable breakfast for ’em.  Miss Deb, she never kept my bacon warm, or anything; and somebody had eaten the meat out of the veal pie when I got back.  Jan will have those horrid poor here twice a week, and if I speak against it, he tells me to hold my tongue.”

“But is Mr. Jan not back yet from Hook’s?”

“No, sir, he’s not,” was the resentful response.  “He has never come back at all since he went, and that was at four o’clock this morning.  If he had gone to cut off all the arms in the house, he couldn’t have been longer!  And I wish him joy of it!  He’ll get no breakfast.  They have got nothing for themselves but bread and water.”

Lionel left his draught an open question, and departed.  As he turned into the principal street again, he saw Master Dan Duff at the door of his mother’s shop.  A hasty impulse prompted Lionel to question the boy of what he saw that unlucky night; or believed he saw.  He crossed over; but Master Dan retreated inside the shop.  Lionel followed him.

“Well, Dan!  Have you overcome the fright of the cow yet?”

“’Twarn’t a cow, please, sir,” replied Dan, timidly. “’Twere a ghost.”