"Yes, that I have," replied Keith; "and I know something of nursing, too," he added.
"Don't go back on your word, Keith," said Aylmer again. "You will do me more good than fifty nurses."
"I will certainly keep my promise," said Keith.—"But I should like to have a word with you, Armstrong, in the other room."
The doctor and Keith went into the anteroom.
"It is a serious case," said Dr. Armstrong: "there is a good deal of inflammation, and it is just possible that there may be a sudden termination; but he has youth on his side. I am glad you are going to stay with him for a bit. His nerves are very much out of order. I believe there is something worrying him more than this illness."
"I give a guess to what it is," said Keith; "and I don't think at a time like the present anything ought to be hidden from the doctor. Now, Dr. Armstrong, without explaining matters too fully, I want you to give me authority to forbid Major Strause to come to his cousin's rooms. The fact is, Strause worries him—it is a money matter. I dare not say any more. Aylmer ought not to be worried."
"I understood that young Aylmer was very rich," said Armstrong.
"So he is; but Strause is poor. Can you not take a hint?"
The doctor smiled.
"I'll have a talk with Strause," he said. "What you tell me explains much. He must not come near his cousin's rooms until the morning."