"Alone?" Fergusson exclaimed, when her sentence remained unfinished; "certainly not. Now, see here, Miss----" he paused and looked at Christina. "It sounds very absurd to say so, but I don't know your name," he added. "Moore," she answered. "Well, Miss Moore, all I want you to do is to sit with this lady, see that she takes some food through the night, and don't allow her to worry about anything." A faint laugh broke from the woman in the bed. "What an easy order to give, and what a hard one to carry out," she said; "but--I will promise--to try and keep my mind at rest--as far as possible," she added under her breath; "and you are taking poor Marion where she will be safe and well cared for?" "I am taking her where she will do no one any harm," Fergusson answered grimly, "and I will bring your servant back as soon as I can. She is a treasure, that servant of yours." "I think she is worth her weight in gold," was the quiet answer; "she is more than servant; she is a friend--a faithful, loyal friend." "You are fortunate to have found such an one," Fergusson smiled, "and now I must go and get that poor soul away; and Miss Moore will keep you company, and take care of you, until I bring your servant back." As he spoke the last words he was gone, closing the door softly behind him, and carrying with him some of the sense of health-giving strength and vitality, with which his very presence seemed to fill the room. Unusual as was the position in which she found herself, Christina had sufficient perception to see that the nerves of the woman she had come to tend, were already stretched to breaking point, and that a normal manner, and matter-of-fact way of taking the situation for granted, would do more than anything else to relieve the tension. She took off her hat and cloak, therefore, with quiet deliberation, unrolled the dressing-gown she had brought with her, and was proceeding to hang it over a chair before the fire, when her patient said suddenly: "Watch them go; tell me when they have gone. Tell me when you and I are alone." Christina moved from the fire to the bedside. "You want me to see them off from the gate?" she asked, and the other nodded. "Yes. Lock and bolt the gate after them. When the doctor comes back, we shall hear him. But the door must be locked behind them now." Her voice rose in feverish excitement, her hands moved restlessly on the sheet, her eyes were bright with eagerness, and Christina could have sworn that fear looked out of them, too. "Of course I will go and do as you wish," she said very gently, her hand stroking the restlessly moving hands; "you will lie very quietly here whilst I am gone?" "Yes, oh yes!" the accents were impatient. "Only go--go down now. They must be ready to start." Slipping on her cloak again, Christina ran downstairs, pausing half-way as she heard a sound of voices and footsteps coming from the corridor that intersected the hall, and that was just out of her sight.