CHAPTER XII
My brother-in-law invited the doctor to remain to dinner, and when my sister and I entered the drawing-room after finishing our household duties, we saw the doctor seated alone in a chair before a table on which lay a book I had been reading. When he saw us enter he rose, but my sister urged him to be seated again.
"What were you reading so attentively?" she asked. "Middlemarch? I hope we are not disturbing you."
The doctor resumed his seat after seeing us seated. He smiled, and bending slightly forward looked steadily at us. He was a handsome man, his features were of a fine and intellectual type. His complexion was delicate, slightly olive-coloured, and a soft glossy beard covered his chin and cheeks. A pair of gold-rimmed eye-glasses fastened by a gold chain enhanced his scholarly appearance.
"Pardon me," he replied gently, "when-
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