d them inexpressibly touching; but
then she knew the story of the man who had waited, and could not fail
to be influenced by it.

On the whole, what she gleaned from the perusal of these records out of
the past tended, she thought, to make her task the easier, for Phil had
clearly disliked and discouraged any very demonstrative affection, and
as to the rest she felt no anxiety. She was ready and able, she knew,
to give Francis all he could need of cheerful companionship, to make
the days pass happily, to minister to him in his weakness. She had
some experience of sick people and their needs, a natural aptitude for
nursing, and an instinct as to the right thing to say and do in
response to their demands. Also there were the services of the trained
nurse to fall back on, and on her would rest the actual responsibility
of the case.

Again she told herself that all she had to do was to remember that she
was playing a part; she had only to forget herself and centre her whole
mind on the role she had undertaken. Above all, she must not look
forward, for no amount of peering could throw light on what the future
would bring; sufficient for her to make sure that her particular little
square in life's patchwork, as Isabella had called it, was not left
with frayed edges. She had a definite task to perform, that of
bringing happiness into the last days of a fellow-creature.

So she thought, and so she reasoned, but whether her reasoning was
sound she did not stop to consider. Nor if she had done so would she
have found it easy to bring a level judgment to bear upon the matter.
As she had said to Isabella, it was very difficult to know what was
truth when it came to the motives that prompted actions, and there was
in her inmost heart the echo of a voice which in some measure deafened
her to the calm tones of cold reason.

CHAPTER XI

VIOLETS

"And to his eye
There was but one beloved face on earth
And that was shining on him."--BYRON.

Punctually at five o'clock Philippa walked out of her room and along
the corridor. She was so perfectly familiar with the plan of the house
by this time, that there was no likelihood of her mistaking the way
which led to the room which she had only discovered by such a slight
and, after all, very natural accident on a former occasion.

At the door she found Doctor Gale awaiting her. He came to meet her,
scanning her appearance closely.

The girl had put on a