"Yes."
"I thought"—the nurse hesitated—"I thought perhaps it would do you both good, Mrs. Hemple, if you took him instead of me."
Luella shook her head hastily.
"Oh, no," she said. "I don't feel able to, to-day."
The nurse looked at her oddly. With a sudden feeling of pity for Charles, Luella bent down gently and kissed his cheek. Then, without a word, she went to her own room, put on her hat and coat, and with her suitcase started for the front door.
Immediately she saw that there was a shadow in the hall. If she could get past that shadow, she was free. If she could go to the right or left of it, or order it out of her way! But, stubbornly, it refused to move, and with a little cry she sank down into a hall chair.
"I thought you'd gone," she wailed. "I told you to go away."
"I'm going soon," said Doctor Moon, "but I don't want you to make an old mistake."
"I'm not making a mistake—I'm leaving my mistakes behind."
"You're trying to leave yourself behind, but you can't. The more you try to run away from yourself, the more you'll have yourself with you."