"A likeness to anybody whom I know?" Iris asked.
"To the person in all the world, my lady, whom you know most nearly--a
likeness to my master."
"What!"
"Oh, it's no fancy; I am sure of what I say. To my mind, that Danish
man's likeness to my lord is (if you will excuse my language) a nasty
circumstance. I don't know why or wherefore--all I can say is, I don't
like it; and I shan't rest until I have found out what it means.
Besides this, my lady, I must know the reason why they want to get you
out of their way. Please to keep up your heart; I shall warn you in
time, when I am sure of the danger."
Iris refused to sanction the risk involved in this desperate design.
"It's you who will be in danger!" she exclaimed.
In her coolest state of obstinacy, Fanny answered: "That's in your
ladyship's service--and that doesn't reckon."
Feeling gratefully this simple and sincere expression of attachment,
Iris held to her own opinion, nevertheless.
"You are in my service," she said; "I won't let you go to Mr. Vimpany.
Give it up, Fanny! Give it up!"
"I'll give it up, my lady, when I know what the doctor means to do--not
before."
The assertion of authority having failed, Iris tried persuasion next.
"As your mistress, it is my duty to set you an example," she resumed.
"One of us must be considerate and gentle in a dispute--let me try to
be that one. There can be no harm, and there may be some good, in
consulting the opinion of a friend; some person in whose discretion we
can trust."
"Am I acquainted with the person your ladyship is thinking of?" Fanny
inquired. "In that case, a friend will know what we want of her by
to-morrow morning. I have written to Mrs. Vimpany."
"The very person I had in my mind, Fanny! When may we expect to hear
from her?"
"If Mrs. Vimpany can put what she has to say to us into few words,"
Fanny replied, "we shall hear from her to-morrow by telegraph."
As she answered her mistress in those cheering words, they were
startled by a heavy knock at the door of the room. Under similar
circumstances, Lord Harry's delicate hand would have been just loud
enough to be heard, and no more. Iris called out suspiciously: "Who's
there?"
The doctor's gross voice answered: "Can I say a word, if you please, to
Fanny Mere?"