Her color came hotly.
“I wasn’t at first.”
Too late she repented her rashness, as Mr. Cecil Barth made languid answer,—
“No. Still, if I remember clearly, it was you who first spoke to me. Oh,—nurse!”
But the door banged sharply, and Barth found himself alone with his ankle and with his thoughts.
“Where is the nurse?” he asked Dr. Howard, a long hour later.
“She went out for a walk.”
“Again?”
“Yes. Have you needed her?”
“Not exactly; but—” Barth hesitated. Then, like the honest Englishman he was, he went straight to the point. “The fact is, doctor, I am afraid I said something that vexed her. I didn’t mean to; I really had no idea of annoying her. I should dislike to hurt her feelings, for she has been very good to me.”