“That is—good. I have much to say to you.”
“Darling, don’t talk if it gives you pain. I can guess your thoughts, I know you so well.”
“Heavens! She knows me so well,” repeated the dying man.
“Has a doctor been sent for, Adrian?”
“No use.”
“But I thought you were strong, in good health. What is the meaning of this agony?”
“Heart,” he said in a whisper. “I have—known—it long—disease of long standing—hopeless; never mind—no doctor can cure me. Listen—Nancy mine.”
She bent down until her white face was almost on a level with his.
“Speak, dearest, beloved,” she said in her softest voice. “Your very lowest word will be heard by me. Everything you tell me I will do. I am all yours, remember, both in life and death.”