“Yes, doctor, I do,” she sighed.
“Now what should you say if I prescribed a complete change?”
“A complete change, doctor?” said the lady, whose pulse was now certainly accelerated.
“Yes. That will be better than any of my drugs. A pleasant little two months’ trip to Baden or Homburg, where you can take the waters and enjoy the fresh air.”
“Oh, doctor, I could not go alone.”
“Humph! No. It would be dull. Well, take a companion. Why not one of the parson’s sisters? Mary Salis—or, no,” he added, quickly, as he recalled certain family troubles that had been rumoured. “Why not Leo Salis?”
“Oh, no, doctor,” said the lady, with a decisive shake of the head. “I don’t think Miss Leo Salis and I would get on together long.”
“The other, then,” said the doctor.
“No, no. Prescribe some medicine for me.”
“But you don’t want medicine.”