She was so wearied with her watching and excitement, that her grief wore itself away into silence and exhausted quiet. She did not raise her head, but let it rest upon her arms as she knelt, and before many minutes had passed, her eyes closed with utter weariness.
She awoke with a start, half an hour later. Some one was standing near her. It had been twilight when she fell asleep, and now the room was so gray, that she could barely distinguish who it was. A soft, thick shawl had been dropped over her, evidently by the person in question. When Theo's eyes became accustomed to the shadows, she recognized the erect, slender figure and handsome head. It was Priscilla Gower, and Priscilla Gower was leaning against the window, and looking down at her fixedly.
"You were cold when I found you," were her first words, "and so I threw my shawl around you. You ought not to have gone to sleep there."
"I fell asleep before I knew that I was tired," said Theo. "Thank you, Miss Gower."
There was a pause of a moment, before she summoned courage to speak again.
"I have not had time yet," she hesitated, at last, "to ask you how Miss Elizabeth is. I hope she is well?"
"I am sorry to say she is not," Priscilla replied. "If she had been well, she would have accompanied me here. She has been very weak of late. It was on that account that I applied to your sister when the doctor's letter told me I was needed."
"I have been expecting Lady Throckmorton for so long, that I am afraid something has gone wrong," said Theo.
To this remark, Priscilla made no reply. She was never prone to be communicative regarding Lady Throckmorton. But she had come here to say something to Theodora North, and at last she said it.
"You have been here—how long?" she asked, suddenly.