now; he saw that she was breaking down.

"Wait till I find your shoes. You can't go that way. Wait a moment--"

"No--no!"

He followed her to the stairs, but:

"No--no!" she sobbed, pushing him back; "I want him to myself. Can't
they let me have him even when he is dying?"

"You can't go!" he said.

She turned on him quivering, beside herself.

"Not in this condition--for your own sake," he repeated steadily. And
again he said: "For the sake of your name in the years to come, Shiela,
you cannot go to him like this. Control yourself."

She strove to pass him; all her strength was leaving her.

"You coward!" she gasped.

"I thought you would mistake me," he said quietly. "People usually
do.... Sit down."

For a while she lay sobbing in her arm-chair, white hands clinched,
biting at her lips to choke back the terror and grief.

[Illustration: "'You can't go!' he said."]

"As soon as your self-command returns my commands are void," he said
coolly. "Nobody here shall see you as you are. If you can't protect
yourself it's my duty to do it for you.... Do you want Portlaw to see
you?--Wayward?--these doctors and nurses and servants? How long would
it take for gossip to reach your family!... And what you've done for
their sakes would be a crime instead of a sacrifice!"

She looked up; he continued his pacing to and fro but said no more.

After a while she rose; an immense lassitude weighted her limbs and
body.

"I think I am fit to go now," she said in a low voice.

"Use a sponge and cold water and fix your hair and put on your shoes,"
he said. "By the time you are ready I'll be back with the truth."

She was blindly involved with her tangled hair when she heard him on the
stairs again--a quick, active step that she mistook for haste; and hair
and arms fell as she turned to confront him.

"It was a sinking crisis; they got him through--both doctors. I tell
you, Shiela, things look better," he said cheerily.

CHAPTER XXII

THE ROLL CALL

As in similar cases of the same disease Hamil's progress toward recovery
was scarcely appreciable for a fortnight or so, then, danger of
reinfection practically over, convalescence began with the new moon of
May.

Other things also began about that time, including a lawsuit against
Portlaw, the lilacs, jonquils, and appleblossoms in Shiela's garden, and
Malcourt's capricious journeys to New York on business concerning which
he offered no explanation to anybod