"Yes, she had passed beyond the portals of death, but she has returned." He spoke according to his present conviction, not as the scientist he prided himself upon being. "She will shortly be conscious," he added, cutting short their eager queries; "her mind will be in an acutely sensitive condition, and, absolute quiet throughout the house is indispensable. I will watch till midnight when, if her condition is favorable, I will relinquish my place to you." He glanced at Serena Effingham. "I would advise you to secure what rest you can during the intervening hours."
He turned to re-enter the chamber, when the lady laid a detaining hand upon his arm.
"Loyd," she whispered, "tell me one thing. What do you consider the cause of this awful trance?"
"Her heart," he answered.
"Then she may die as her father died?"
"It does not follow. She may never have a recurrence of the trouble. What I fear is—"
"What do you fear?"
The sensitive lines of his face seemed to petrify as with a desperate resolution he replied:
"I fear her mind may be affected by this attack."
"Her mind! Oh, Loyd, tell me anything but that!"