Page:The Fruit of the Tree (Wharton 1907).djvu/57

Rh Mr. Tredegar had meanwhile appeared, and when Amherst had been named to him, and had received his Olympian nod, Bessy anxiously imparted her difficulty.

“But how ill is Mr. Truscomb? Do you think he can take us over the mills tomorrow?” she appealed to Amherst.

“I’m afraid not; I am sure he can’t. He has a touch of bronchitis.”

This announcement was met by a general outcry, in which sympathy for the manager was not the predominating note. Mrs. Ansell saved the situation by breathing feelingly: “Poor man!” and after a decent echo of the phrase, and a doubtful glance at her father, Mrs. Westmore said: “If it’s bronchitis he may be ill for days, and what in the world are we to do?”

“Pack up and come back later,” suggested Mr. Langhope briskly; but while Bessy sighed “Oh, that dreadful journey!” Mr. Tredegar interposed with authority: “One moment, Langhope, please. Mr. Amherst, is Mrs. Westmore expected at the mills?”

“Yes, I believe they know she is coming.”

“Then I think, my dear, that to go back to New York without showing yourself would, under the circumstances, be—er—an error in judgment.”

“Good Lord, Tredegar, you don’t expect to keep us kicking our heels here for days?” her father ejaculated. [ 45 ]