The nurse shrugged her shoulders.
"It's against the doctor's orders. I wash my hands of the consequences," said she.
And, with her head held very high, she left the room.
Max stood irresolute. By the look of excitement on Dudley's face, he judged that anything must be better for him than the eager suspense from which he was evidently suffering. This news of the death of the odious inhabitant of the house by the wharf must surely bring relief to him. As soon as they were alone together, Dudley burst out eagerly:
"That noise! It's no use deceiving me; I know what it was. They were after him. Tell me—has he got away? Has my father got away?"
CHAPTER XXVI.
BACK TO LOVE AND LIFE.
Max fell into a chair. He stared at Dudley for a few moments before he could speak. Dudley's father! The man supposed to have died years and years ago in an asylum abroad, was the person who had passed as "Mrs. Higgs!" Even before he had had time to learn any of the details of the strange story, the outlines of it were at once apparent to the mind of Max.
Here was, then, the explanation of the mysterious bond between Dudley and Mrs. Higgs; here was the meaning of his visits to Limehouse.