"Ah, well," he replied, "there is time enough for that. We shall see-- we shall see. Yes. Come in!" he cried querulously, for there was a tap at the door. "No, do; don't come in. See who it is, my child. If it is Isabel, she may come. If it is my sister, tell her I cannot see her to-night, and that she must stay with her visitor." "And it will make her more bitter against me," thought Elisia, as she crossed the room, to find that it was Maria Bell. "Miss Isabel wants you in the lib'ry, nurse, in a quarter of an hour," said the woman shortly; and she turned her back and went down. "What is it? what is it?" said Elthorne sharply. She told him. "Now what can she want that she could not have come and said to you herself? In a quarter of an hour, eh?" he continued, turning his eyes to the little carriage clock standing on the table. "Yes: they will be out of the dining room then, and the gentlemen will be sitting over their claret--as I used to be over my glass of port--as I used to be over my glass of port." "Shall I read to you again for a while, sir?" said the nurse, to divert his thoughts from the past. "No, not now," he said shortly. "Hah! How little we know of what is in store for us. Such a hale, strong man as I was, nurse. And now, a helpless baby--nothing more." "Nothing more, sir? With mental powers such as yours?" "Hah! yes. A good reproof, but it is impossible not to lie here and repine. Mental powers such as mine! That was not meant as flattery, eh?" "I think you know I would not be so contemptible, sir," she said. "Yes, I do know. Thank you. Another reproof. Why, nurse, my accident must have done me good. I should have resented reproofs once upon a time. But I've paid dearly for my lesson--very dearly indeed, and there is so much more to pay--all my life. Yes, all my life." He closed his eyes and lay thinking for some time, not opening them till the quarter of an hour had nearly sped, when he looked sharply at the little clock. "Time you went down," he said sharply. "Tell Isabel to come and see me a little sooner to-night, to sit a quarter of an hour before she goes to bed." Elisia placed a glass close to her patient's head; saw that the cord was within reach, in case he should want to ring; and then, conscious that he was attentively watching her every act with a satisfied look in his eyes, she passed out into the corridor, and then drew back slightly, for Aunt Anne had just passed the door, and was going on to her own chamber with her dress rustling loudly as it swung from side to side, and threatened to sweep some of the valuable ornaments from the side tables and brackets arranged here and here. Then, turning into her room, the door was closed and Elisia went on down.