human
Come in, she cried impatiently, and to her surprise, Lionel presented himself, with a somewhat diffident look.
gpt
Oh, it's you, padre! Lady Jim had picked up the word from a Sandhurst cadet.
human
What's the matter,--anything wrong?
gpt
What should be wrong?
human
Oh, I don't know. I always expect bad news when I see a lawyer's letter or a parson's face. Well? Has Lady Canvey been converted, or has Jim gone to that place where the climate forbids skating?
gpt
Nothing of the sort has happened, said Lionel, dryly.
human
I have merely come to chat with you.
gpt
Sit down, then, though I warn you I don't feel companionable.
human
You are worried.
gpt
My dear man, when am I anything else but worried, with Jim for a husband, and the Duke behaving like Shylock at his worst? You and Jim have made a mess of things.
human
I don't know about Jim, said Lionel, resenting this ungrateful speech,
gpt
Oh, Lord, who wanted a right light? The less light on Jim's and my affairs the better. A few white lies would have resulted in a larger sum than that miserable two hundred with which the Duke insulted us.
human
I am not in the habit of telling lies, white or black, Lady James.
gpt
I daresay. You parsons are so ridiculously punctilious. As if diplomatic lies were not as oil on the troubled waters of this world.
human
I did not come to discuss this, said Lionel, seeing how utterly impossible she was,
gpt
What trouble?
human
I don't know. I was reading in the library, when a feeling came to me that I must see you at once--that you needed assistance.
gpt
Telepathy, I suppose.
human
Well, that may be the scientific name for the Divine Spirit.
gpt
The what?
human
The Divine Spirit, he repeated, firmly and seriously.
gpt
I believe that the impulse to seek you came from above. You are in danger.
human
Am I--of being bored to death?
gpt
You can't deny that you are in trouble of some sort. I can see it in your expression.
human
My trouble is my own. I share it with no one.
gpt
Then you are in----
human
Pray don't question me, snapped Leah, with a nervous glance around. This interference of the Unseen with her material affairs was both weird and uncomfortable. She could not deny the panic that had driven her headlong from the security of the flesh, and it was remarkable that Lionel, unsummoned and unsought, should seek her at so critical a moment. The feeling that he was meddling with what did not concern him, annoyed her the more.
gpt
I wish you would not frighten me,
human
Perhaps it is your conscience that is frightening you.
gpt
How dare you say that?
human
Because there is something serious the matter, or I should not have been called to your assistance.
gpt
I never called you.
human
Then your good angel did.
gpt
I don't believe in such things.
human
Do you believe in anything?
gpt
Yes, she said defiantly--
human
That is a poor help in time of trouble.
gpt
I have managed very well hitherto.
human
Can you substantiate that statement, seeing how embarrassed your worldly affairs are at this moment?
gpt
Parsons have nothing to do with worldly matters,
human
Very true. But if I can offer spiritual consolation----
gpt
Take it to Lady Canvey. She needs it more than I do.
human
I doubt that, or the call would not have come.
gpt
It's a false alarm, padre, she said jeeringly.
human
I don't want to be preached at, and you're suffering from indigestion, or softening of the brain.
gpt
Well, Lady James, said Lionel, rising with a sigh,