Ellen went out into the hall and back to the door which led to the service stairs. In her room she opened her books and finished her evening's task. She had power of concentration equal to her strength of purpose; besides, the event was too startling and complex to be approached at once.
An hour later, sitting up in bed with her hands clasped round her knees, she heard the door open.
"Are you awake yet?"
"Yes."
Fetzer sat down on the foot of the bed. The pale moonlight was not bright enough to show the flush on her cheek, but the trembling of her body shook the bed.
"Why, Mrs. Fetzer, what ails you?" Asking the question Ellen believed that she understood. Mrs. Lanfair had spoken unkindly.
But Fetzer's thoughts were not upon Hilda.
"I'd do anything in the world for him!" she declared.
"For Dr. Lanfair?"
"There are some that are just like beasts and some that are all the while angels," wept Fetzer.