He had taken his young relatives upstairs to see his mother, and the picture of her, lying almost in the attitude of a corpse on the bed, with a uniformed nurse sitting motionless beside her, had made a deep impression on Pauline and Rosie. In fact, the whole house saddened them. It was spacious and luxurious, but it was far from reaching that standard of splendour which one might reasonably expect from the Ilam wealth. Ilam did not look like a wealthy man. He did not talk like a wealthy man, and both girls began to perceive, dimly, that wealth is useless to those who have not sufficient imagination to employ it. Certainly the City of Pleasure was an expression of the Ilam riches, but they knew, as all the world knew, that the imagination which had brought into being the City of Pleasure was Carpentaria’s. Hence, they felt sorry for Josephus Ilam, partly because of the calamity to his mother, and partly because of his forlorn and anxious air; they thought he wanted looking after, and that this heavy pompous man was greatly to be pitied, despite his opulence. “You haven’t told us how it happened, what caused it?” said Pauline sympathetically. “Oh!” said Ilam, “as to that, who can tell? Probably some fright, some shock. But we can’t say. She was alone when it happened. And as she can’t speak--can’t write--can’t---- Well, you see how it is.” “We are sorry for you,” murmured Rosie. “And here I am, alone as it were,” Ilam continued. “What am I to do? What can a man do by himself? I’ve got a nurse. I can get fifty nurses, if necessary. And there are the servants. But what are nurses and servants? You understand my position, don’t you?” “Yes, quite,” said Pauline. They were partaking of a second tea in the Ilam drawing-room. The appetite of Rosie for cakes seemed unimpaired, though she did her best to hide it, and to pretend that she was only eating cakes out of politeness. Ilam swallowed his tea in great gulps. “I’m utterly unnerved,” he said. “You must be,” said Rosie kindly. “There’s a vast amount of superintendence to do in the City, as you may guess. But what am I fit for, with my poor old mother lying up there? You can’t fancy what she was to me. I depended on her for everything--everything.” And then tears showed themselves in the little eyes of Josephus Ilam. The appearance of those tears in the eyes of a great strong man made Rosie feel very uncomfortable, so much so, that she was obliged to look out of the window. “I wish we could help you,” said Pauline, after a pause. “We’d do anything we could,” said Rosie. Ilam glanced up. “You can do everything,” he said. “I hesitated to ask you, but since you’ve mentioned it yourselves... and I’ll make it worth your while. Rely on that.” “But what?” demanded Pauline, startled, while Rosie put down a fresh piece of cake which she had just taken. “Come and live here,” said Ilam bluntly. “Both of us?” “Both of you.” “We couldn’t do that, really,” said Pauline.