will
soon build you up; but don't try to talk now. I see the journey has
been almost too much for you.

"In here, please. I thought you had better take something before
you climbed the stairs."

A meal was laid, in a room leading off the hall; and after a basin
of soup and a couple of glasses of Rhine wine, Fergus felt much
better.

"That is right," the count said. "You have now got a tinge of
colour in your cheeks.

"Come, Thirza, you must not look so woebegone, because our knight
is pulled down a bit. Invalids want a cheerful face and, unless you
brighten up, I shall not intrust any of the nursing duties to you."

Thirza tried to smile, but the attempt was a very forced one.

"It has been a surprise," she said quietly, but with an evident
effort. "You see, I have always seen Colonel Drummond looking so
strong and bright. Though I knew that he had been very ill, somehow
I did not expect to see him like this."

"But I can assure you I am better," Fergus said, laughing. "I did
feel done when we arrived, but I can assure you that is not my
normal state; and being here among you all will very soon effect a
transformation. In a very short time you will see that I shall
refuse altogether to be treated as an invalid, and my nurse's post
will be a sinecure."

"Now you had better go and lie down, and get a sleep for two or
three hours," the countess said, decidedly. "You will have your old
bedroom, and we have fitted up the next room as a sitting room. We
know a good many of the Austrian and Confederate officers, and of
an afternoon and evening they often drop in; and although we are
not afraid of questions, it will be more pleasant for you to have a
place of your own.

"Still, I hope you will be able to be out in the garden behind the
house, the best part of the day, under the trees. You would be as
safe from interruption, there, as if you were a hundred miles away
from Dresden. We have arranged that Thirza shall have chief charge
of you, out there; while the count and I will look after you while
you are in the house."

Fergus obediently lay down and slept for some hours. As the
countess had arranged, he rang his bell on waking and, hearing from
the servant who answered it that there were no visitors downstairs,
he went down. The count had gone out, but the countess and Thirza
went out into the grounds with him; and he found that, in a quiet
and shady corner, a sofa had been placed for his use, with a table
an