may have
been only an accident that developed it. I told you when I saw him,
before he was struck down, how he seemed to be all at sixes and sevens
with himself--everything wrong--worried, harassed, and sick of life,
though he would hardly explain anything; he was always too proud to
ask for pity. Well, now, I am piecing together a story, out of these
incoherent appeals and recollections that come into his delirium; and if
I am right, it is a sad enough one, for it seems to me so hopeless. I
believe he was all the time in love with that Nina--Miss Ross--and did
not know it; for their association, their companionship, was so
constant, so like an intimate friendship. Then there seems to have been
some misunderstanding, and she went away unexpectedly--there is a box of
jewels and trinkets on the top of the piano, and I am certain these were
what she sent back to him when she left. I don't think he has the
slightest idea where she is; and that is troubling him more than
anything else--"

"But, Maurice," said Francie, instantly, "could we not find out where
she is?--surely she would come and see him and pacify his mind; it would
just make all the difference! Surely we could find out where she is!"

Mangan hesitated; it was not the first time this idea had occurred to
himself.

"I am afraid," said he, "that, even if we knew where she was, it would
be rather awkward to approach her. There may have been something about
her going away that prevented Linn from trying to find her out. For one
thing, his engagement to Miss Burgoyne. I believe he blundered into that
in a sort of reckless despair; but there it is; and there it is likely
to be, unfortunately--"

"But surely, surely, Maurice," said Francie, "Miss Ross would not make
that any obstacle if she knew that her coming would give peace and rest
to one who is dangerously ill. Surely she would not think of such a
thing at such a time--"

"And then again," he said, "the chances are all against our finding her,
if she wishes to remain concealed, or even absent. Linn talks of Malta,
of Australia, of San Francisco, and so on; but I don't believe he has
the slightest idea where she is. No, I'm afraid it's no use thinking of
it; the crisis of the fever will be here before any such thing could be
tried."

Then he said, presently,

"I had a visit from Miss Burgoyne yesterday afternoon."

"I suppose she was terribly distressed," Francie said, naturally
enough.

"Oh, no. On