The Lonely Bride by Fred M. White

Meanwhile it will be perhaps as well to go back to the bank house, where too long we have left Mark Anstey struggling with a dangerous wound inflicted upon him during the small hours on the night on the bank premises. It was perhaps mainly owing to his wonderful physique that he was recovering so rapidly from his injuries. Naturally Grace had not seen her father for the last few days, at any rate not since the startling discovery had been made that Bessie Fenton was suffering from typhoid, and during the fortnight which had elapsed Anstey was almost himself again.

At the same time there was something about him that Dr. Watson did not like at all; never before had he seen his patient moody or taciturn. Every allowance had been made, of course, for the strong man who was not accustomed to illness, and there seemed to be something on the mind of Anstey that his medical man could not grapple with at all. He was exceedingly moody, to say nothing of a certain heavy sulkiness which led him to be rude to all about him. It was at this point that Dr. Watson resolved to speak out freely.