"You mean Dr. Lanfair's secretary?"
"Yes."
"She has unfortunately been somewhat indisposed. She is absent."
"Is Miss Knowlton here?"
"She is in the hospital attending Dr. Lanfair."
"Is he ill?"
"He has had an infected hand, a severe case of septicæmia, but we have saved him. He is improving."
Ellen forgot all her resolutions.
"Can he be seen?"
Mayne shook his head, then looked at her curiously. Was she an employee of Stephen's, like the middle-aged women who were so concerned about him?