"That face! Those eyes!" breathed the agitated young man. "That voice, also! Bessie, you cannot deceive me!"
"You gif me ze fear," said the nurse, shrinking away. "You look so very strange. Why you glare at me wiz ze eye? Why you keep calling me Bess-ee?"
"Are you not Bessie—my Bessie?"
"You haf ze very strange idea in your mind, saire. I nevaire saw you before."
Berlin Carson was like one dazed and utterly bewildered. To all appearances he had badly alarmed the girl. As he faltered in seeking further words, she suddenly brushed past him and fled, her soft-falling feet making no sound.
For fully three minutes Carson stood there without speaking. Finally, with his hand on the banister, he started to descend the stairs.
"Am I deceived?" he whispered huskily. "No, by Heaven, it is she!"