"
"I should like to be remembered to her."
"You shall be," said Sir James, rising. "I will give her your message.
Meanwhile, may I tell Lady Lucy that you feel a little easier
this morning?"
Oliver slowly and sombrely shook his head. Then, however, he made a
visible effort.
"But I want to see her. Will you tell her?"
Lady Lucy, however, was already in the room. Probably she had heard the
message from the open doorway where she often hovered. Oliver held out
his hand to her, and she stooped and kissed him. She asked him a few
low-voiced questions, to which he mostly answered by a shake of the
head. Then she attempted some ordinary conversation, during which it was
very evident that the sick man wished to be left alone.
She and Sir James retreated to her sitting-room, and there Lady Lucy,
sitting helplessly by the fire, brushed away some tears of which she was
only half conscious. Sir James walked up and down, coming at last to a
stop beside her.
"It seems to me this is as much a moral as a physical breakdown. Can
nothing be done to take him out of himself?--give him fresh heart?"
"We have tried everything--suggested everything.
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