"No, no," exclaimed Glavis, pushing her gently back upon the pillow. "Nothing has happened. Ah—er—ah—"
"Oh, I'm so relieved," she sighed, as she fell over in the bed.
"He's here—in the city," she heard then from Glavis.
"He is!" she cried, sitting suddenly erect again. For a moment she hesitated, and then, raising her hand to her forehead as if in great pain, she groaned perceptibly. The next moment she had again sunk back upon the pillow, and her breath came hard. Perspiration stood upon her brow, and he saw it.
"Orlean, oh, Orlean," he cried then upon impulse. "Great God, this is a shame, a shame before God!" he lamented with great emotion.
Suddenly he rushed to the door and then halted as he heard his wife calling him from below. He turned to where Orlean lay in the bed, sick now for true.
"Aren't you coming down to supper, Orlean?" he called.
"No, Glavis. I am not hungry."
"But you should eat something, Orlean."
"No, Glavis," she repeated in a tired voice, a voice in which he detected a sigh. "I couldn't eat anything—now." He looked at her a moment with great tenderness, let escape a sigh, and then as if resigned to the inevitable, he turned and passed down the stairway to where his wife waited below.