“I was never christened.”
He could not explain the confusion and displeasure which the question excited, and anxious to relieve her of any feeling of annoyance, he added,—
“Have you ever looked into the nature of the Aglaophotis?”
She struggled up from her cushions, and exclaimed, with a vehemence that startled him,—
“What induced you to examine it? I know that it is a strange plant, growing out of solid marble, and accounted a charm by Arab magicians. Well, Dr. Grey, do not I belong to that species? You see before you a human specimen of Aglaophotis, growing out of a marble heart.”
Sometimes an exaggerated whimsicality trenches so closely upon insanity, that it is difficult to discriminate between them; and, as Dr. Grey noted the peculiarly cold glitter of her large eyes, and the restless movement of her usually quiet hands, he dreaded that the crushing weight on her heart would ultimately impair her mind. Now he abruptly changed the topic.
“Mrs. Gerome, whenever it is agreeable to you to drive down the beach or across the woods and among the hills, it will afford me much pleasure to place my horse, buggy, and myself at your disposal; and, in fine weather like this, a drive of a few miles would invigorate you.”
“Thank you. I shall not trouble you, for I have my low-swung easy carriage, and my grays—my fatal grays. Ah if they would only serve me as they did my poor Elsie! When I am strong enough to take the reins, I will allow them an 322 opportunity. Dr. Grey, if I seem rude, forgive me. You are very kind and singularly patient, and sometimes when you have left me, I feel ashamed of my inability to prove my sincere appreciation of your goodness. For these beautiful flowers, I thank you cordially.”
She held out her hand, and, as he accepted it, he drew from his pocket the silver key which he had so carefully preserved.
“Accident made me the custodian of this key, which I found on the floor the day of Elsie’s burial. Knowing that it belonged to your escritoire, whence I saw you take it, I thought it best not to commit it to a servant’s care, and have kept it in my pocket until I thought you might need it.”