"No, sir. He is in his room now."
"If," I said, "when I am with your husband--and I intend to remain with him but a short time--Devlin comes down-stairs, let me know immediately. Keep watch for him."
"I will, sir. O, how thankful I am that you're here--how thankful, how thankful!"
"I hope we shall all have reason to be thankful. And now, Fanny, I will go up to your husband."
"I'll go in first, and prepare him, sir."
"Let us have lights in the house. Don't leave Mr. Lemon in the dark. Put a candle in the passage also."
She followed my instructions, and then we went to her husband's bedroom. I waited outside while she "prepared" him. It did not take long to do so, and she came to the door and beckoned to me. I entered the room, and desired her to leave us alone.
"But don't lock us in," I added.
"No, sir," she said. "Lemon's safe now you're with him."
With that she retired, first smoothing the bedclothes and the pillow with a kind of pitying, soothing motion as though Lemon was about to undergo an operation.