“Ah! You stayed with him!” was all she could say, the tears choking her.
The boy opened the gate, and let Julie up into the ominous stillness of the house. At the top of the staircase, he uttered a soft word, and Doctor Braithwaite appeared, a tall gray wraith spent with much struggle.
“My maestra has come back.” Delphine quivered with simple pride.
The Doctor stared hard for several moments, while Julie made an agitated effort to explain. At last he contrived to recover himself.
“Chad was right, then,” he said. “He believed that Isabel had tried to do away with you. After you had gone, she endeavored to make it appear that you had gone to meet a man in the southern islands. If I hadn’t been over here so long—I think I might find you surprising.
“Barry was taken ill in the provinces,” he went on. “Your boy brought him back, and has stuck to him to the end. If you have never done anything else here—”
He stopped short, his face contracted painfully. “I’m sorry it’s too late!”
She was pitiful enough anyway, this thin, spent little creature, in her outlandish garments, and he winced at the effect of the blow he had delivered.
“I must see him,” she said, in a low voice.