"Oh!" said Miss Pelch in an alarmed tone, and would have asked more questions, only Dr. Pargowker was already in his brougham, on his way to another patient.
Minnie returned to the drawing-room, with a cheerful face, so as not to let Miss Corbin see her feelings, but that indomitable lady was determined to have the truth, and tackled her at once.
"Well, what did he say?" she demanded, sharply.
"Only that you were to keep yourself quiet, dear Miss Jelly," replied Minnie, taking up her work, a green parrot being embroidered on a red tree, against a yellow ground and a purple sky.
"What else?"
"Nothing!"
"Minnie, you are deceiving me," said Aunt Jelly solemnly. "I can see it in your face. Do you think it's right to deceive a dying person?"
"You're not dying," whimpered Minnie, beginning to cry.
"I'm not far off it, at all events," retorted Miss Corbin, with a sigh. "I know my own constitution quite as well as that fool of a doctor, and I'm pretty sure I won't get well this time."
"Oh, but you will--you will," cried Minnie, weeping.