“Thelma!” I cried eagerly, raising my hand towards her.
“No! Keep quiet!” ordered the spectacled man who seemed to be a doctor. “Listen! Can you understand me. Do you hear what I say?” he asked in a harsh voice.
“Yes, I—I do,” I faltered.
“Then keep quiet. Sleep, and don’t worry about anything—if you want to get well. You’re very ill—and you’ve been very foolish. But if you obey me you will soon be all right again.”
“But—but Thelma—Mrs. Audley,” I asked eagerly.
“She’s here—by your side. Don’t worry, Mr. Yelverton, go to sleep and you’ll be quite right again soon—quite right!”
I looked at his great gold-rimmed spectacles. They seemed to be magnified in my abnormal sight.
“But,” I asked boldly. “Who are you?”
“My name is Denbury—Doctor Denbury,” was the old fellow’s reply.
“But why are you here with me in Cross Keys?”