qualified nurse to be obtained for my
brother?" said Mrs. Vane. "This young--lady"--a perceptible pause
occurred before the word--"has had no experience in nursing; and it is
surely not necessary----"

"Oh, doctor," the girl burst out, "must I not stay? I cannot go away
when he calls for me like that!"

Her hands were strained on her bosom; her eyes had the hungry look of a
mother who hears her child cry aloud and cannot go to him. The doctor
shot a look at her pale tortured face, and observed the cold composure
of the finely-dressed lady in the arm-chair, and the subdued uneasiness
of the old gentleman in the background. He began to suspect a
tragedy--at any rate, a romance.

"Go to him at once," he said to Cynthia, pointing to the bed-room door,
"and keep him quiet at any cost. A trained nurse would not do him half
the good that you can do him, if you choose. And now, madam," he
continued rather sternly, as Cynthia disappeared with a joyful face into
the other room, "may I ask what this interference with my orders may
mean?"

"I am Mr. Lepel's sister," said Flossy coldly, "and it was I who sent
for you, Doctor Middlemass. I think I have some right to take an
interest in my brother's condition."

"Certainly, madam"--the doctor spoke with portentous grimness and
formality--"but--excuse me--no right to tamper with any of my
prescriptions. I prescribed Miss West to my patient; and she was doing
him all the good in the world when I went away. He has got another
fever-fit upon him now, a little higher temperature, and we shall not be
able to do anything more for him at all. If you do not wish my orders to
be followed, madam, have the goodness to send for another doctor and I
will throw up the case."

"You misunderstand, sir--you misunderstand!" said the General fussily,
coming forward with his most imposing air. "My wife and I, sir, have not
the slightest desire to interfere. We only wish to know what your
prescriptions are. That young woman, sir, has no right to be here at
all."

"From what I have been told," said the doctor dryly, "I should have said
that she had the greatest possible right to be here; but, however, that
is no business of mine. She has a wonderfully soothing effect on Mr.
Lepel's condition, and, as long as she is here, he is quiet and
manageable. Listen! He is scarcely speaking at all now; her presence and
her touch have calmed him at once. It would be positive madness to take
her away!"

"Wou