"Thank you, Robert. Good-by, then, for the present."
"Good-by. I hope you will soon be well."
"I shall. It was anxiety for my children that was wearing upon me. Now, thanks to your kindness, I am easy in mind. But, brother, there is one question I forgot to ask. How came you to know that I lived at Hurst Court?"
Sharpley was posed for a moment, and knew not what to say. He could not, of course, tell the truth; but he was a man fertile in suggestions, and he was silent for a moment only.
"I employed a detective," he answered. "These London detectives are wonderfully sharp. He soon found you out."
"And you took all this trouble about me," said Mrs. Craven, gratefully, not for a moment doubting the accuracy of the story.
"Is it strange that I should take the trouble to find my only sister? But I cannot delay longer. Good-by, Helen."
He stooped and lightly touched her cheek with his lips, and hurried from the room.
"There," he said to himself, after reaching the street; "I have cut off all possibility of a second meeting between Frank and my sister during the brief remainder of our stay in London. When I come back it will be alone!"