“Certainly, miss; you may quite trust me. I shall be in and out continually, even after the nurse comes.”
Miss Mordaunt went away then, very slowly and softly, like a person who has a great trouble at heart, and, looking after her, until only the tip of her aristocratic nose was visible, Mary said to herself:
“I shouldn’t wonder if she is a duchess in disguise. Anyhow, she is a real, born lady, and knows how to behave, so I can’t do better than serve her; and if the poor gentleman ever gets well, and he’s as fond of her as she is of him, why, I dare say there will be something coming in from both sides.”
Mary did not mean to be mercenary, and had good feeling in the main; but she was going to be married as soon as her young man could save up money enough to buy furniture, and so every sixpence she could earn became a precious acquisition.
The nurse arrived about four o’clock, and Miss Mordaunt, who had been sitting with her door ajar all the afternoon, examined her anxiously as she went past. She had a firm face, but a bright and sympathetic expression; and there was something in her upright carriage that inspired confidence irresistibly.
Miss Mordaunt shut the door when the other had passed, and sank into a chair, letting her nerveless hands drop to her side.
“Thank Heaven!” she murmured, “at least he will have every chance.”
The next few days were days of indescribable misery and suspense to the anxious watcher in No. 56.
Colonel Dacre lay between life and death, and the doctor came out of the sick-room always with a terribly grave face. But for a little compromise she had made with Mary, Miss Mordaunt would have fallen ill herself with worry.
The nurse had four hours’ rest during the day, and directly she was safely shut into her room, the girl ran down to fetch Miss Mordaunt, and allowed her to take her place at Colonel Dacre’s bedside. It was such a comfort to be doing something. Only those who have had to stand by helpless, when those they loved were sick and suffering, will understand the poor girl’s thankfulness for Mary’s concession.