She did not seem to understand the drift of this question; she looked up as if bewildered, and her beautiful eyes dilated with a painful, tortured expression.  He went on, without noticing the look on her face; he did not see it, I am sure.

’And yet you would have left us, left your home, left your father and your mother, and gone away with this stranger, wandering over the world.’  He suffered, too; there were tones of pain in the voice in which he uttered this reproach.  Probably the father and daughter were never so far apart in their lives, so unsympathetic.  Yet some new terror came over her, and it was to him she turned for help.  A shadow came over her face, and she tottered towards her father; falling down, her arms across his knees, and moaning out,—­

‘Father, my head! my head!’ and then slipped through his quick-enfolding arms, and lay on the ground at his feet.

I shall never forget his sudden look of agony while I live; never!  We raised her up; her colour had strangely darkened; she was insensible.  I ran through the back-kitchen to the yard pump, and brought back water.  The minister had her on his knees, her head against his breast, almost as though she were a sleeping child.  He was trying to rise up with his poor precious burden, but the momentary terror had robbed the strong man of his strength, and he sank back in his chair with sobbing breath.

‘She is not dead, Paul! is she?’ he whispered, hoarse, as I came near him.  I, too, could not speak, but I pointed to the quivering of the muscles round her mouth.  Just then cousin Holman, attracted by some unwonted sound, came down.  I remember I was surprised at the time at her presence of mind, she seemed to know so much better what to do than the minister, in the midst of the sick affright which blanched her countenance, and made her tremble all over.  I think now that it was the recollection of what had gone before; the miserable thought that possibly his words had brought on this attack, whatever it might be, that so unmanned the minister.  We carried her upstairs, and while the women were putting her to bed, still unconscious, still slightly convulsed, I slipped out, and saddled one of the horses, and rode as fast as the heavy-trotting beast could go, to Hornby, to find the doctor there, and bring him back.  He was out, might be detained the whole night.  I remember saying, ‘God help us all!’ as I sate on my horse, under the window, through which the apprentice’s head had appeared to answer my furious tugs at the night-bell.  He was a good-natured fellow.  He said,—­

’He may be home in half an hour, there’s no knowing; but I daresay he will.  I’ll send him out to the Hope Farm directly he comes in.  It’s that good-looking young woman, Holman’s daughter, that’s ill, isn’t it?’

‘Yes.’

’It would be a pity if she was to go.  She’s an only child, isn’t she?  I’ll get up, and smoke a pipe in the surgery, ready for the governor’s coming home.  I might go to sleep if I went to bed again.’