Felix grunted slightly, as if in token that he desired no compliments.
"Anderson will be no loser in the end."
Then came a summons. "Master Keith was sensible, and he wanted Miss Lettice. He had asked if she were in the house."
"Come, both of you," the doctor said unexpectedly. He could hardly have explained why he extended his invitation to Felix. The words sprang from a momentary impulse; and Felix followed without hesitation.
Keith was sitting up in his little bed, supported by pillows. Beside him stood Theodosia; haggard, wretched beyond description. After one glance, as Lettice entered, her eyes were averted: while the boy extended eager hands, and gasped, "Dear old Lettice! Come!"
She bent over him, and he held her with his thin arms, until they dropped through weakness. The breathing was sorely oppressed. He seemed striving to say something, and unable to bring it out.
Theodosia drew nearer; but with one hand, he tried to push her away—a hasty childish motion.
"No, no, Keith!" the doctor said in a gentle voice.
"I can't! Lettice! Not Mamsie! It was she—did it!" The boy could with difficulty speak, and he looked towards Dr. Bryant, panting. "I want—want—to tell you! . . . Mamsie did it! . . . I saw her! . . . Lettice knows! . . . Ask Lettice!"
"What does he mean?" asked Dr. Bryant, in a low voice.