"I thought so. Shall I never be able to get out of bed again?"
"I am afraid not, darling—you are so weak!"
"Yes, I am—I can hardly raise my hand. And yet I must rise if I can. I have something so particular to do."
"Cannot I do it for you, Blanche?"
"Will you do it, Bella?"
"Anything—everything, love! How can you ask me?"
"And you will promise secrecy? Let me look in your face. Yes, it is a true face, as it has ever been, and I can trust you. Have the black box moved out of my room before I die, Bella—mind, before I die, and placed in your own dressing-room."
"What, dear, your linen box?"
"Yes, my linen box, or whatever you choose to call it. Take it away at once, Bella. Tell no one; and when I am dead, have it buried in my grave. Surely you could manage so much for me!"
"And Colonel Damer?"