When Mary recovered to consciousness, she was lying on her bed, up stairs. Rachel stood by her pillow. At the foot of her bed, Mary caught sight of her father's face, ghastly pale. Between the two, she saw a strange gentleman, a doctor, who felt her pulse, put a few questions to her, wrote a prescription, and soon left.
"I must go now," said Rachel, "but I shall come back this evening, and bring my work."
Jones did not heed her; he looked stupified and like one bereft of sense, but Mary laughed and replied, "Oh! do Miss Gray, come and take tea with us."
Rachel promised that she would try, kissed her and left. With great difficulty she obtained from Mrs. Brown the permission to return.
They on whom the light of this world shone not, were rarely in the favour of Mrs. Brown. And only on condition of being home early did she allow Rachel to depart. Before leaving, she went up to her other's chair, he was not now quite so helpless as at first, and did not require her constant presence or assistance; though he still did not know her.
"I shall try and not be too long away," said Rachel in a low voice.
"Never mind," he muttered, shaking his head, "never mind."
"There's a precious old fool for you!" said Mrs. Brown laughing coarsely.
A flush of pain crossed Rachel's cheek, but to have replied, would have been to draw down a storm on her head; she silently left the house.
She found Mary feverish, restless, and full of projects. She would get up early the next day, and make up for lost time. She remembered all the work she had to do, and which she had unaccountably neglected. Her father's shirts to mend, her own wardrobe to see to; the next room to clean up, for a second lodger had never been found; in short, to hear her, it seemed as if her life had only begun, and that this was the day of its opening. In vain Rachel tried to check her soothingly; Mary talked on and was so animated and so merry, that her father, who came up every five minutes to see how she was, could not believe her to be so very ill as Miss Gray thought, or the Doctor had hinted. Indeed, when at nine Rachel left, and he let her down stairs, he seemed quite relieved.