She glided to him noiselessly and put her hand upon his arm softly. He
turned his sightless eyes upon her, evidently without seeing her, and,
fighting against the desire to cry out, she led him gently back to his
room.
He woke as they crossed the threshold, woke and looked at her in a
stupefied fashion.
"Are you ill, father? Is there anything you want?" she asked, as calmly
as she could.
"No," he replied. "I am quite well; I do not want anything. I was going
to bed--why have you called me?"
She remained with him for a few minutes, then left the room, turning
the key in the door. When she had gone he stood listening with his head
on one side; then he opened his hand and looked with a cunning smile at
the five-pound note which had been tightly grasped in it.
"She didn't see it; no, she didn't see it!" he muttered; and he went
stealthily to the bed and thrust it under the pillow.
CHAPTER XIII.
The morning broke with that exquisite clearness which distinguishes the
lakes when a fine day follows a wet one; and, despite her anxiety on
her father's account, Ida, as she went down-stairs, was conscious of
that sense of happiness which comes from anticipation.
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