"When did you see her last?"
"Yesterday morning, Principe. I went then to her room to prepare her bath, and to take her coffee with bread which I had toasted."
"Was she not well then?"
"When I inquired after her health she said she had not slept. And the night before it had been the same. She was pale, very pale, and there were shadows under her eyes, but she did not complain of illness. While I was there the Signora came and since then the young lady has not been out of her room."
"What is that Signora's name?" Vanno asked.
"I do not know, Principe, I have not been told, and I do not understand the sound of English words, though I have learned a little French."
"Is the lady's husband here?"
"Oh, yes, a very sad, tired-looking gentleman who seems to be ill himself; but he is a doctor. I know that, for when I offered to make a tisane of orange flowers for the Signorina to soothe her nerves and bring her sleep, she thanked me, but said the Signore had got her a sleeping draught made up the day before, when he went back over the French frontier. She told me that he was a doctor, and had prescribed for her."
"A doctor!" Vanno repeated, suddenly puzzled. He had been confident that the "Signore and Signora" were Lord and Lady Dauntrey. But he had never heard that Dauntrey had studied medicine and practised in South Africa. "Where is the Signore now?" he asked quickly.
"He was with his wife in the room of the Signorina a short time ago."