"Yes."
"Then tell her to leave off her cap."
He began to cough. The Doctor bent over him. Hilda helped to make the old man comfortable.
When at last the General drifted into slumber, the two went down together. The hall clock pointed to four.
They stood at the foot of the great stairway. From the landing the painted lady smiled at them.
"Hilda, I am going to France."
She expressed no surprise. "When did you make up your mind?"
"In a sense it is not made up. I think I am waiting for you to confirm my decision. They want me at the head of a hospital staff, to deal with cases of shock. I should like to have you in charge of my nurses."
She meditated. "I am not sure that I care to go."
He showed his surprise. "I understood that if I went, you would go—"