y maid is doing, and if she wants any
directions."

The nurse retired, and Hilda was again alone with the sick man. She
sat on the bedside leaning over him, and twined her arms about him.
There, as he lay, in his weakness and senselessness, she saw her own
work. It was she, and no other, who had doomed him to this. Too well
had her agent earned out the fatal commission which she had given. As
his valet he had had constant access to the person of Lord Chetwynde,
and had used his opportunities well. She understood perfectly how it
was that such a thing as this had been brought about. She knew every
part of the dread process, and had read enough to know the inevitable
results.

And now--would he live or die? Life was low. Would it ever rally
again? Had she come in time to save him, or was it all too late? The
reproaches which she hurled against herself were now overwhelming
her, and these reproaches alternated with feelings of intense
tenderness. She was weak from her own recent illness, from the
unwonted fatigue which she had endured, and from the excitement of
that recent interview with Gualtier. Thus torn and tossed and
distracted by a thousand contending emotions, Hilda sat there until
at length weakness and fatigue overpowered her. It seemed to her that
a change was coming over the face of the sick man. Suddenly he moved,
and in such a way that his face was turned full toward her as he lay
on his side. At that moment it seemed to her that the worst had
come--that at last death himself had placed his stamp there, and that
there was now no more hope. The horror of this fancy altogether
overcame her. She fell forward and sank down.

[Illustration: "No; I Am Best Here By His Side."]

When at length the nurse returned she found Hilda senseless, lying on
the bed, with her arm still under the head of Lord Chetwynde. She
called Gretchen, and the two made a bed on the sofa, where they
lifted Hilda with tenderest care. She lay long unconscious, but at
last she recovered. Her first thoughts were full of bewilderment, but
finally she comprehended the whole situation.

Now at length she found that she had been wasting precious moments
upon useless reflections and idle self-reproaches. If she had come to
save, that safety ought not to be delayed. She hurriedly drew from
her pocket a vial and opened it. It was the same which she had
obtained from the London druggist. She smelled it, and then tasted
it. After this she rose