And this her uncle did, sending her upstairs at length to show it to
nurse, but sitting wrapped in thought himself and leaving both his
letters and breakfast untouched for some considerable time.

That same day he went out driving in the afternoon with a young horse,
and returning home met a traction engine, at which the horse instantly
took fright and bolted.

For some time Sir Edward kept steadily to his seat, and though powerless
to check the animal's course was able to guide it; but in spite of all
his efforts the trap was at last upset, and he was thrown violently to
the ground. He had no groom with him, and the accident took place on a
lonely road, so that it was not till an hour later that help came, in
the shape of a farmer returning from market in his cart. He found Sir
Edward unconscious, and the horse still feebly struggling to extricate
himself from under the trap, which was badly broken.

It was about seven o'clock in the evening when Sir Edward was brought
home, and he had three ribs broken, besides some very severe injuries to
his head. The doctor wished to telegraph for a nurse from London, but
Sir Edward had a horror of them, and having recovered consciousness
shook his head vehemently when it was suggested; and so it ended in
Milly's nurse volunteering to assist his valet in nursing him. Poor
little Milly wandered about the house with Fritz at her heels in a very
woe-begone fashion. What with the anxiety in her heart lest her uncle
should die, and the absence of her nurse--who could spare little time
now to look after her--she felt most forlorn, and her greatest comfort
was to go down to the keeper's cottage and talk to Mrs. Maxwell.

Sir Edward was soon out of danger, but he was a long time recovering,