"You were there?"
"Yes. For the first two days I was there alone, before her brother came."
He pressed her hand in gratitude.
"Thank you."
She felt the blood rush to her heart.
After a silence he said, he murmured the question which was choking him:
"Did she say anything … for me?"
Rosa shook her head sadly. She would have given much to be able to let him have the answer he expected: she was almost sorry that she could not lie about it. She tried to console him:
"She was not conscious."
"But she did speak?"