"I cannot say more than I have done," said Hugo, in a muffled voice. "You will know soon--and, besides, as I have told you, there is nothing for you to be alarmed at; indeed there is not. Do you think I would deceive you in that?" "I hope not," faltered Kitty. "You are very kind." "Don't call it kindness. You know that I would do anything for you." Then, noticing that the vehemence of his tone made her shrink away from him, he added more calmly, "you will soon understand why I am acting in this way. Wait for a little while and you will see." She was silent for a few minutes, and then said in a subdued tone:-- "You frighten me, Hugo, by telling me that I shall know--soon; that I shall see--soon. What are you hiding from me? You make me fancy terrible things. My father is not--not-dying--dead? Hugo, tell me the truth." "I solemnly assure you, Kitty, that your father is not even in danger." "Then someone else is ill?" "No, indeed. Be patient for a little time, and you shall see them all." Kitty clasped her hands together with a sigh, and resigned herself to her position. She leaned back in the comfortably-cushioned seat for a time, and then roused herself to look out of the window. The night was a dark one: she could see little but vague forms of tall trees on either hand, but she felt by the motion of the carriage that they were going uphill. "We have not much further to go, have we?" she asked. "Some distance, I am sorry to say. Your father was removed to a farmhouse four miles from the station--the house nearest the scene of the accident." "Four miles!" faltered Kitty. "I thought that it was close to the station." "Is it disagreeable to you to drive so far with me?" said Hugo. "I will get out and sit on the box if you do not want me." "Oh, no, I should not like you to do that," said Kitty. But in her heart, she wished that she had brought Mrs. Baxter's Janet. Her next question showed some uneasiness, though of what kind Hugo could not exactly discover. "Whose brougham is this?" "Mrs. Luttrell's. I borrowed it for the occasion." "You are very good. I could easily have come in a fly." "Don't say you would rather have done so," said Hugo, allowing his voice to fall into a caressing murmur. But either Kitty did not hear, or was displeased by this recurrence to his old habit of saying lover-like things; for she gazed blankly out of the window, and made no reply. After an hour's drive, the carriage turned in at some white gates, and stopped in a paved courtyard surrounded by high walls. Kitty gazed round her, thinking that she had seen the place before, but she was not allowed to linger. Hugo hurried her through a door into a stone hall, and down some dark passages, cautioning her from time to time to make no noise. Once Kitty tried to draw back. "Where is Elizabeth?" she said. "Is not Isabel here? Why is everything so still?"