Being busy helped but at every footstep in the hall she jerked upright and craned her neck. She folded feverishly and had done a pile as high as the big dictionary on the library desk when Dr. Barnes arrived.
“Well, well. How are you, Miss Mimi? I was distressed for fear you would be ill after so much excitement last night, or I should say this morning early.”
“I am fine, thank you, sir.”
Please, Dr. Barnes. Please! Hurry!
“You were a brave girl, Miss Mimi. Now I hope that this news will not prove too much excitement for you, coming as it does right on top of the fire.”
He had the message in his hand. If he didn’t read it or let her have it at once, she would have to jerk it from him. Slower than a snail, a sloth, molasses in January—slower than all the slow things in the world put together, Dr. Barnes adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat.
“The message is from your father in Leipzig. But here—you may read it for yourself.”
Her breath bated, her eyes dancing, Mimi took the paper.
“PATIENT PROVED TO BE YOUR FRITZ. FULL DEATH-BED CONFESSION. I KNOW WHO CHLOE IS. FINE FAMILY NOW DECEASED. KEEP SECRET. MOTHER AND JUNIOR DOCK JUNE FIFTH. LOVE DADDY.”
Chloe was somebody! As if she hadn’t known! “Mother and Junior are coming home! Oh, D-d-doctor Barnes!”