r trouble came; and
then in a fortnight it turned as gray as you see it now. Doctor, I
said she was not deranged, and I spoke truly; but sometimes I have
feared that, when I am gone, she might get desperate, and, in her
loneliness, destroy herself. You are a sensible man, and can hold your
tongue, and I feel that I can trust you. Now, I know that Robert loves
her, and while he lives will serve her faithfully; but you are wiser
than my son, and I should be better satisfied if I left her in your
charge, when I go home. Will you promise me to take care of her, and
to try to comfort her in the day when she sees me buried?"

"Elsie, you impose upon me a duty which I am afraid Mrs. Gerome will
not allow me to discharge; and, since she is so exceedingly averse to
meeting strangers, I should not feel justified in thrusting myself
into her presence."

"Not even to prevent a crime?"

"I hope that your excited imagination and anxious heart exaggerate the
possibility of the danger to which you allude."

"No; exaggeration is not one of my habits, and I know my mistress
better than she knows herself. She thinks that suicide is not a sin,
but says it is cowardly; and she utterly detests and loathes
cowardice. Dr. Grey, I could not rest quietly in my coffin if she is
left alone in this dreary house, after I am carried to my long home.
Will you stay here awhile, or take her to your house,--at least for a
short time?"

"I will, at all events, promise to comply with your wishes as fully as
she will permit. But recollect that I am comparatively a stranger to
her, and her haughty reception of me the day I was compelled to come
here on your account, does not encourage me to presume in future.
Respect for her wishes, however unreasonable, and respect for myself,
would forbid an intrusion on my part."

"If you saw an utter stranger drowning, would fear of being considered
presumptuous or impertinent prevent your trying to save him? Your
self-love should not hold you back from a Christian duty."

"And you may rest assured that it never shall, when I feel that
interference--no matter how unwelcome or ungraciously received--will
prove beneficial. But remember that your mistress is eccentric and
shrinking, and all efforts to befriend her must be made very
cautiously."

"True, doctor; yet sometimes, instead of consulting her, it is best
to treat her as a wilful child. I believe you could obtain some
influence over her if you would only t