She shrank from her, shielding herself behind Michael’s shoulder.
“No, Michael, no!” she repeated. “I’m going to be taken away from you. And look, Miss—ah, my dear, I have forgotten your name—look, she has got no hat on. She was going to stop with me a long time. Michael, must I go?”
Michael saw the nurse looking at her, watching her with that quiet eye of the trained attendant.
Then she spoke to Michael.
“Well, if Lord Comber will just step outside with me,” she said, “we’ll see if we can arrange for you to stop a little longer.”
“And you’ll come back, Michael,” said she.
Michael saw that the nurse wanted to say something to him, and with infinite gentleness disentangled the clinging of Lady Ashbridge’s hand.
“Why, of course I will,” he said. “And won’t you give Miss Falbe another cup of tea?”
Lady Ashbridge hesitated a moment.
“Yes, I’ll do that,” she said. “And by the time I’ve done that you will be back again, won’t you?”