hope. In a few days you may be removed
to his apartment, where your love and devotion will soon meet with
their reward."

"Tell me one thing," asked Hilda, earnestly. "Is Lord Chetwynde still
delirious?"

"Yes--but only slightly so. It is more like a quiet sleep than any
thing else; and, while he sleeps, the medicines are performing their
appropriate effect upon him. Every thing is progressing favorably,
and when he regains his senses he will be changed very much for the
better. But now, my lady, you must think no more about it. Try and
get some sleep. Be as calm in your mind as you can until to-morrow."

And with these words the doctor left.

On the following day he came again, but refused to speak on the
subject of Lord Chetwynde's illness; he merely assured Hilda that he
was still in an encouraging condition, and told her that she herself
must keep calm, so that her recovery might be more rapid. For several
days he forbade a renewal of the subject of conversation, with the
intention, as he said, of sparing her every thing which might agitate
her. Whether his precautions were wise or not may be doubted. Hilda
sometimes troubled herself with fancies that the doctor might,
perhaps, suspect all the truth; and though she succeeded in
dismissing the idea as absurd, yet the trouble which she experienced
from it was sufficient to agitate her in many ways. That
fever-haunted land of delirium, out of which she had of late emerged,
was still near enough to throw over her soul its dark and terrific
shadows. It needed but a slight word from the doctor, or from any one
else, to revive the accursed memories of an accursed past.

Several days passed away, and, in spite of her anxieties, she grew
stronger. The longing which she felt to see Lord Chetwynde gave
strength to her resolution to grow stronger; and, as once before, her
ardent will seemed to sway the functions of the body. The doctor
noticed this steady increase of strength one day, and promised her
that on the following day she should be removed to Lord Chetwynde's
room. She received this intelligence with the deepest gratitude.

"Lord Chetwynde's symptoms," continued the doctor, "are still
favorable. He is no longer in delirium, but in a kind of gentle
sleep, which is not so well defined as to be a stupor, but is yet
stronger than an ordinary sleep. The medicine which is being
administered has this effect. Perhaps you are aware of this?"

Hilda bowed.

"I was to