and then at him without being able to utter a
word. As far as my own feelings were concerned the end of the world had
come, for I had made up my mind that Valerie was dying. If that were so,
Pharos might do his worst.

"My friends, it would seem as if I have come only just in time," he said
with sarcastic sweetness. "My dear Forrester, I must offer you my
congratulations upon the neat manner in which you effected your escape.
Unfortunately I was aware of it all along. Knowing what was in your
heart, I laid my plans accordingly, and here I am. And pray, may I ask,
what good have you done yourself by your impetuosity? You chase across
Europe at express speed, hoping to get to England before I can catch
you, only to find on arrival here that the plague has headed you off,
and that it is impossible for you to reach your destination."

"Are you going to stand talking all day?" I said, forgetting caution and
the need that existed for humouring him, everything in fact, in my
anxiety. "Can not you see that she is ill? Good heavens, man, she may be
dying!"

"What do you mean?" he asked quickly, with a change of voice as he
crossed the room and came over to where I was standing. "Let me see her
instantly!"

With a deftness, and at the same time a tenderness I had never noticed
in him before, he took her from me and placed her upon a sofa. Having
done so, he stooped over her and commenced his examination. Thirty
seconds had not elapsed before he turned fiercely on me again.

"You fool!" he cried, "are you mad? Lock that door this instant. This is
more serious than I imagined. Do you know what it is?"

"How should I?" I answered in agony. "Tell me, tell me, can not you see
how much I am suffering?"

I clutched him by the arm so tightly that he winced under it and had to
exert his strength to throw me off.

"It is the plague," he answered, "and but for your folly in running away
from me she would never have caught it. If she dies the blame will rest
entirely with you."

But I scarcely heard him. The knowledge that my darling was the victim
of the scourge that was ravaging all Europe drove me back against the
wall faint and speechless with terror. "If she dies," he had said, and
the words rang in my ears like a funeral knell. But she should not die.
If any power in the world could save her, it should be found.

"What can I do?" I whispered hoarsely. "For pity's sake let me help in
some way. She must not die, she shall not