“But for some weeks before he left,” said Mrs. Levice, “he coughed every morning and night. When I besought him to see a doctor, he ridiculed me out of the idea. How did you find him before he left?”
“I have not seen Mr. Levice for some months,” he replied gravely.
Mrs. Levice eyed him questioningly, but he offered no explanation.
“Then do you think,” she continued, “that this asthma made the pneumonia more dangerous?”
“Undoubtedly.”
Her fingers clutched at the sheet convulsively; but the strength of her voice and aspect remained unbroken.
“Thank you,” she said, “for telling me so candidly. Then will you be here to-morrow morning?”
“I shall manage to meet him at Oakland with a closed carriage.”
“May I go with you?”
“Pardon me; but it will be best for you to receive him quietly at home. There must be nothing whatever to disturb him. Have all ready, especially yourself.”