“Lady Bray lay awake hour after hour thinking, and could not sleep.
“She prayed for it, but it came not.
“Racked with conflicting thoughts she lived part of her life over again, and resolved to forget all about it.
“‘I thought so,’ she mused. ‘Clare could not disguise it from me. I saw it long ago; but it can never be. No! it can never be, even if he lives!
“‘What pain she must have suffered to-night! How strong is the heart beating in that pale, fragile frame?
“‘No, no, Clare. Sleep on, sweet cousin; but heaven guide your heart aright, and prepare it for disappointments and trials, for they will surely come.’
“And so passed the night until the sun began to gild the eastern clouds, and even then Lady Bray lay awake, watching the curtains moving in the breeze.
“The night had been an anxious one at Lord Stoner’s. All had retired as usual, and, save the lights in his daughter’s room, with moving figures reflected on the blinds, all was still.
“Dr. Newman had arrived long ago, and after consulting, both medical gentlemen began operating on the scarcely breathing, inanimate student.
“After difficulty and much effusion of blood the bullet was extracted, and the wound bandaged.