When he was shown into the chamber, he saw the girl lying on the sofa, with disheveled hair and dressed in a Persian morning-gown. Her eyes were unnaturally big and stared contemptuously at the intruder.
The commissioner felt for a moment embarrassed, but only for a moment, and then he stepped forwards and grasped her hand.
"How is it with you, Miss Mary?" asked he sympathetically.
She looked at him piercingly, as though she would penetrate him, but did not answer.
He took out his watch and, counting her pulse, said:
"You have fever."
Here he lied, but he must gain her confidence, that was part of the cure.
The expression on the girl's face changed immediately.
"If I have fever! Oh, I believe I shall burn up!"
She was allowed to complain, and the hostile mood against the visitor had passed so that contact closing the current could occur.