He looked into the supper-room, but she was not there; into the ball-room, and there he found her on a seat at the far end, listless and dejected.
'Helen, what ails you?'
And all his anger vanished in an instant as she lifted up her eyes, and he saw they were filled with tears.
'Helen, my darling, what is the matter? Has anything happened?'
'Nothing, dear,' she said, in a low flat voice. 'Tell me, are the people all gone? every one, I mean? O, I am so glad!'
'You are over-fatigued, child, that is all,' said he, bending tenderly down to her.
'I wish it were all,' said Helen, rising and throwing herself into her husband's arms. 'I am so horribly wretched!'
'Wretched!' he repeated, with infinite tenderness. 'What makes you wretched, dear?'
'You do, and no one else. You are going to leave me, and it seems cruel and unkind of you.'
'My sweet Helen, those are very hard words, and--'