"Don't irritate her," whispered Salis gently. "Leo, dear, Mary will be in her own room. Lie down now." The phase of gentleness had passed, and Leo turned upon him almost savagely, in her furious contempt. "Lie down! Lie down! as if I were a dog! Oh! there must be an end to this. There must be an end to this." She had partly opened the door so as to speak to her brother, but now she closed it loudly, and they heard her walking excitedly to and fro. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. WHAT DALLY WAS DOING. "I feared it," said North, as he returned from the bedroom, where he had left Leo with the servants, who stood staring helplessly at her, and listening to her ravings about the mare, the plunge into the cold river, and the injured shoulder. "Violent fever and delirium. Poor girl! what could we expect? Heated with her ride, the fall, the sudden plunge into the water, and then a long, slow ride in the drenched garments." "Do you think she is very ill?" said Mary anxiously. "Very; but not dangerously, I hope. There, trust to me, and I will do everything I can. You must have a good nurse at once. Those women are worse than useless. I'll send on my housekeeper." "But you are not going?" cried Salis, with the look of alarm so commonly directed at a doctor. "My dear boy--only to fetch medicine. I'll not be long; and mind this: she must not leave her room now. She must be kept there at any cost." "And I am so helpless, Hartley," whispered Mary piteously. "It is so hard to bear." The curate bent down and kissed her, and then, taking his place by the bedroom door, he remained to carry out the instructions he had received. They were necessary, for he had not been there five minutes before the delirious girl rose from her couch, and there was an angry outcry on the part of the women. She insisted upon going to the stable to see to her mare. It was being neglected; and it was only by the exercise of force that she was kept in the room. Before half-an-hour had passed, the doctor was back, and quiet, firm Mrs Milt, who put off her crotchety ways in the face of this trouble, took her place by the bedside, and with good effect; for, partly soothed by the old woman's firm management, and partly by the strong opiate the doctor had administered, Leo sank into a restless sleep, in which she kept on muttering incoherently, the only portions of her speech at all connected being those dealing with her accident, which seemed to her to be repeated again and again. It was towards ten o'clock, as the doctor was returning by the short cut of the fields to the Rectory, after having been home for a short time, that he caught sight of a couple of figures a short distance over the stile leading down to the meadows, through which the little river ran. "Humph!" he muttered, as, in spite of the darkness, he recognised the figures, his own steps being hushed by the moist pasture, and the couple too intent upon their conversation to hear him pass.