"There, missy, that'll be all right, never you fear," she said as Christina appeared; "the doctor, he've been telling me there's a poor lady in great trouble, and that you could comfort her by sitting up with her a bit. Why, I'll sleep with the little missy with all the pleasure in life, and you can feel as safe about her, as if you was here yourself."
When the doctor had handed her into the car, and they drove swiftly away, the girl felt as if she were merely a puppet, whose strings were being pulled by Fergusson's strong hands. She had a curious sense of helplessness, that was not wholly unpleasant. So dominating was the personality of the man who sat beside her, that she was convinced he was only doing what was right in whirling her away with him through the darkness; and his brown eyes were so steadfast, so reliable, that when their glance met hers, she felt safe. He spoke scarcely at all to her, until they had turned off the moorland into the steep lane, that led to the house amongst the woods. Then he said quietly, steering the car at a walking pace:
"I found an uncomfortable state of things in the house to which we are going, when I got there to-day."
"Was someone very ill?" Christina questioned; "the lady said 'a matter of life and death.'"
"It was certainly that," he answered grimly, "considering I was only just in time to save her from being murdered, by as violent a homicidal maniac as I ever saw."
"Oh!" Christina exclaimed with horror.
"At first, I couldn't get into the place at all. Then a servant came to the gate, and she seemed in a terrible state. No wonder! She took me into the house, and in one of the rooms I found the lady of whom you have been speaking, in the grip of a madwoman, lighting for her life. My God! I was only just in time. It seems the woman had been ill, and had had paroxysms of what they thought was delirium. As a matter of fact it was acute mania; and, as I say, I was only just in time."
"What have you done with——" Christina broke off with a shudder, but Fergusson saw that her face was white.
"With the unfortunate madwoman? I have secured her for the time, and I mean to drive her over to-night to the nearest asylum. But I must take the servant with me, and that is why I want you. Your beautiful lady cannot be left alone."
"I thought it must have been a man who was ill," Christina said; "she certainly spoke of 'him' and 'he.'"