"I have your message," she said. "Has anything happened to my brother?"
He began: "You mustn't be alarmed, but he is not very well——"
"I am alarmed. Where is he?"
"In the Knickerbocker Hospital."
"Seriously ill?"
"No. He is in a private ward——"
"The—alcoholic?" she asked quietly.
"Yes," he said, flushing with the shame that had not burnt her white face.
"May I go to him?" she asked.
"No!" he exclaimed, horrified.