– I am truly grateful to you for agreeing to help, but I cannot get Miss Glowford to London for the rest of the summer. What if we came to see you in a month or two? The girl's father died the other day, and she is deeply distressed and hard to bear.
– You think rightly, sir: after a heavy loss a man necessarily needs time, but how much, there are many opinions on that. Every man needs the comfort of time as much as his nature compels him, and Miss Glowford's brain is a very fragile one, so there is no hurry to take her to me. But long practice shows that mentally retarded people do not understand all the distress and bitterness of loss," Mr. Liabrist explained gravely to his interlocutor.
– I shall not object, for your knowledge in this field is certainly far superior to mine. Miss Glowford requires special care, and her older sister will probably object to the treatment, and it will take a lot of persuasion to get Miss Cassandra to come with me.
The psychiatrist chuckled and adjusted his glasses.
– This is an extremely interesting case," he said with a slight smile.
"What a cynic!" – The Viscount thought grudgingly, displeased that he had called Cassie's illness an "interesting case."
– I shall be deeply grateful and thankful to you if you will help the girl," said the Viscount, still quite coolly. – I feel madly sorry for her.
– Then, when the time is right, bring her to see me. I will do my best," Mr. Liabrist assured him.
The Viscount thanked him warmly and went home. He decided that his new task was to befriend Cassie and become her friend, to bind her to him so that Miss Catherine would not be able to insist that Cassie could not live a day without her home and sisters. The Viscount knew that his behaviour would not be blameless, but he was moved only by a noble desire to keep Cassie out of his worries and to cure her sick mind of years of fog.
Walsingham was preparing for the funeral of Pastor Glowford.
The church had been empty for the third day: no work was being done in it, no divine services were being held, but only a light oak coffin stood, in which lay the body of the dead parson, clothed in his best ecclesiastical robes. While the villagers came tearfully to bid farewell to their beloved parson, his daughter Cassie was running free, cheerful and unsuspecting of her father's death: at Catherine Glowford's request, the Walsingham people kept silent about the tragedy and concealed it from Cassie. The cold air circulated inside the church, but outside it was hot July, and the smell of corpse decomposition filled the vaults of the building. But this did not dampen Catherine's spirit; she sat by her father's coffin all day reading the Scriptures aloud. Christine was confused by her older sister's behaviour, though she was no less upset. Christine would come to church and exhort Kate to go home, eat, sleep and rest, but she steadfastly refused to rest and would come home only to show herself to Cassie and feed her, then leave for church again. A little worried about her father's long absence, Cassie often asked her sisters, "Where is Daddy?" but they reassured her with the answer, "He'll be back soon, honey. It's a long way home."