Sommers shook his head slowly.
"I am afraid not; the only thing to be hoped for is that he will get worse, much worse, as rapidly as possible."
Mrs. Preston stood his questioning eyes as he delivered this unprofessional opinion.
"Meantime you must protect yourself. The least harm his outbreaks will do will be to make a scandal, to make it necessary for you to leave your school."
"What can I do?" she asked, almost irritably.
"There are institutions."
"I have no money."
"And I suppose they would not do, now, while he is apparently getting better. They would not help him, even if we should get him confined. His is one of those cases where the common law prescribes liberty."
There was nothing further to say in this direction. Sommers seemed to be thinking. At last, with an impulsive motion, he exclaimed:
"It should not have been! No, it should not have been."