“‘Yes,’ I said, ‘but it is all over now, isn’t it?’

   “She nodded listlessly:  ‘I think so.’

“Again, but not looking at me she spoke of her illness as dating from a shock received long ago.  She is a little confused about the lapse of time, vague as to dates.  You see it is four months since Louis—­did what he did.  She said nothing more, and in a few minutes Miss Lester came back for her.

“Now as to her mental condition:  I have had a thorough understanding with the physicians and one and all assure me that there is absolutely nothing the matter with her except the physical consequences of the shock; and those are wearing off.

“What she did, what she lived through with him—­the dreadful tension, the endless insomnia—­all this—­and then, when the searching party was out all night long in the rain and all the next day—­and then, Garry, to have her stumble on him at dusk—­that young girl, all alone, nerves strung to the breaking point—­and to find him, that way!  Was it not enough to account for this nervous demoralisation?  The wonder is that it has not permanently injured her.

   “But it has not; she is certainly recovering.  The dread of seeing
   a familiar face is less poignant; her father was here to-day with
   Gray and she saw them both.

“Now, dear, as for your coming here, it will not do.  I can see that.  She has not yet spoken of you, nor have I ventured to.  What her attitude toward you may be I cannot guess from her speech or manner.

“Miss Lester told me that at first, in the complete nervous prostration, she seemed to have a morbid idea that you had been unkind to her, neglected and deserted her—­left her to face some endless horror all alone.  The shock to her mind had been terrible, Garry; everything was grotesquely twisted—­she had some fever, you know—­and Miss Lester told me that it was too pitiful to hear her talk of you and mix up everything with military jargon about outpost duty and the firing line, and some comrade who had deserted her under fire.

“All of which I mention, dear, so that you may, in a measure, comprehend how very ill she has been; and that she is not yet well by any means, and perhaps will not be for a long time to come.

“To-night I had a very straight talk with Mr. Cardross.  One has to talk straight when one talks to him.  There is not in my mind the slightest doubt that he knows exactly now what misguided impulse drove Shiela to that distressing sacrifice of herself and you.  And at first I was afraid that what she had done from a mistaken sense of duty might have hastened poor Louis’ end; but Mr. Cardross told me that from the day of his father’s death he had determined to follow in the same fashion; and had told Mr. Cardross of his intention more than once.

   “So you see it was in him—­in the blood.  See what his own sister
   did to herself within a month of Louis’ death!