“If you let any one in to see me, Miles,” he told the footman, “I'll kick you out of the house.” So, though the bell rang often, he remained alone. But as he lay there with half-closed eyes living again through the tortures of the last few hours, he heard a voice that startled him. It was surely hers—already! He sprang up and opened the door. Ernestine and Captain Francis were in the hall.
He motioned them to follow him into the room. Ernestine was flushed and her eyes were very bright. She threw up her veil and faced him haughtily. “Where is he?” she asked. “I know everything. I insist upon seeing him at once.”
“That,” he said coolly, “will depend upon whether he is fit to see you!”
He rang the bell.
“Tell Miss Fullagher to step this way a moment,” he ordered.
“He is in this house, then,” she cried. He took no notice. In a moment a young woman dressed in the uniform of one of the principal hospitals entered.
“Miss Fullagher,” he asked, “how is the patient?”
“We've had a lot of trouble with him, sir,” she said significantly. “He was terrible all last night, and he's very weak this morning. Is this the young lady, sir?”
“This is the young lady who I told you would want to see him when you thought it advisable.”
The nurse looked doubtful. “Sir Henry is upstairs, sir,” she said. “I had better ask his advice.”