Poor Mollie, who had hoped against hope, was utterly prostrated for a time in view of this ultimatum. She shut herself into her room to meet this terrible blow and fight her battle out where no eye could witness her anguish.
The fate to which her father had been doomed by the verdict of the doctors seemed absolutely unbearable, and she cried aloud in her anguish that she would not submit to it.
She was nearly worn out with this conflict by luncheon-time, two hours and more after the departure of the Paris authority, and was only able to drink a cup of tea when her maid brought a temptingly arranged tray to her; but she felt that she could not live through the afternoon, left alone with her own thoughts, and finally, ringing for Nannette, she ordered her to make Lucille ready for a drive, and half an hour later found them rolling out toward the Washington monument. They drove for nearly two hours, and then Mollie ordered the coachman to turn toward home.
As the carriage was passing through Fourteenth Street something caught Mollie's eye—something which made her sit suddenly erect, while a look of eager interest swept over her pale, lovely face. The object which had attracted her attention was a very modest sign hanging in a window.
It read thus: "John L. Freeman, Christian Science Healer," and into the girl's mind flashed the thought, accompanied by a wild hope: "Perhaps that man can help my father—I have heard that Christian Scientists do wonderful things."
Almost before she was aware of what she was doing, she had ordered the driver to stop, when, taking Lucille by the hand, she alighted, mounted the steps, and rang the bell of the house where Mr. Freeman resided.
Then, as the tinkle of the bell came to her ears, she suddenly began to feel ashamed of her errand, for she had always been both skeptical and intolerant of all such "metaphysical nonsense," as she had termed it.
She was half-tempted to beat a hasty retreat, and perhaps would have done so if the door had not been opened at that instant by a sweet, happy-looking girl, whose winning smile at once won her confidence and inspired her with fresh hope.
"Can I see Mr. Freeman?" she briefly inquired.
"I think so; come in, please," replied the girl, and, turning, she led the way into a pleasant room, where a gentleman of perhaps forty years was sitting.