"And now perhaps to die, and I never to know his real thoughts of me. Well, I should die too--I'm sure of that now!" "Harriet, you can trust me again?" "Yes, with all my heart." "Patience, then--we _will_ say no more until we are sure that the truth faces us." They were silent for the remainder of the way; people who passed on the footpath, and glanced towards the occupants of that private cab, wondered at the two pale, grave-faced women sitting side by side therein. CHAPTER IV. ALL THE TRUTH. The house wherein Sidney was waiting for the best or worst, was situated in Bayswater. A house that had been taken at Maurice's expense, and by Dr. Bario's suggestion. The Italian doctor was a man with a love of effect--one of those stagey beings whom we meet occasionally in England, and more often on the Continent. He was fond of mystery; it enhanced the surprise, and gained him popularity. He was a clever man, but he was also a vain one. His style of practice he kept to himself; whether his cures were effected by the common methods of treatment, or by methods of his own, were hard to arrive at; he bound his patients and his patients' friends to secrecy; some of his English medical contemporaries called him a quack, others a mad-man--a few, just a few, to leaven the mass, thought that there _was_ something in him. Abroad he was at the top of the tree and sought after--matter-of-fact England not being able to make him out, eyed him suspiciously. Mattie and Harriet were ushered into a well-furnished room on the first floor, where Maurice Hinchford awaited them. He went towards them at once, and shook hands with them--even with Harriet Wesden, who had faced him with such stern words during their last interview. There was a common cause that bound all three together, and the past was forgotten. "We are in time?" asked Mattie. "Plenty of time, thank you." "Where is Sidney?" "In the room beyond there, where the curtain hangs before the door." "Have you told him that _we_ are here?" asked Mattie. "Yes, he is very anxious to speak with you both before he is left in Dr. Bario's hands." "You are hopeful of good results?" asked Harriet. "Yes--very hopeful--are not you?" he asked curiously. "No--I fear the worst." "You have not considered the matter, Miss Wesden--this has come upon you with the shock of a surprise, and hence the feeling that distresses you. But I say he shall get better--we have all determined to make an extraordinary case of him." "Hush, sir!--he is in God's hands, not yours," said Harriet. "I beg pardon--of course."