"Can't she go home?"

"She says her people would turn her out, if they knew."

"Poor girl! No, I suppose she must manage to keep them in the dark somehow. Did she tell you how it happened?"

"She told me in confidence, but one thing I can a.s.sure you of, Virginia, she has been most outrageously treated, and taken advantage of--her very goodness and innocence have betrayed her."

Virginia waved this aside. "After all, what does that matter? The fact remains that she is in a hole and must be got out of it. What had you thought of doing for her, Rico?"

"I wanted to ask your advice--a woman knows so much more in a case like this."

What he wished to do was to enlist his wife's sympathy and interest; he knew how invaluable, and how necessary her help would be, for without her adherence, there really was not much he could do.

"Won't you tell me, Virginia, what you think should be done?"

Virginia sat up, dropping her feet down over the edge of the bed; chin in hands, elbows on knees, she reflected, her tumbled dark hair falling over her pretty ivory tinted shoulders, from which the chemise had slipped.

"The first thing, of course, is for her to leave her party before they find out, and how it is that they have suspected nothing, is beyond my comprehension! She must leave them at once.--Fru Bjork is kind, but on her daughter's account, she would throw Ragna off with no compunctions whatever--It's lucky that that old maid they had with them in Florence isn't here--she would have seen it all long ago. I'll tell you what, Rico, Ragna can say she is coming back to Florence with me, and when we go back next week--I always liked the girl and I will do that much anyhow, for her--tell her she can use my name in any way she likes, and she can count on me to help her out. In Florence, she can have it all over quietly and go home afterwards."

"I thought you would help her, Virginia, and she will appreciate it, I know. If you could have seen her utter misery!"

"Would you like me to go to her? I will if it would do any good."

Ferrati raised his wife's face to his, and kissed her.

"Yes, she would appreciate that--to-morrow, you shall go." He paused a moment. "I am thinking how to manage about Fru Bjork, how to get the girl away from her, without her suspecting--"

"Ah, well, you and she must work that out together. Necessity sharpens the wits, and Ragna ought to be able to find a way--I don't think that should prove very difficult."

"I must be getting back to her now. I promised her I would come soon."

"Tell her I will come to-morrow, or she can come to me, and we will arrange it all. Tell her to keep her courage up, and that we will see her through!" Virginia called after him, as he left the room, and he answered her with a smile and a wave of the hand.

In the hotel lobby he met Fru Bjork, anxious inquiry written large upon her face.

"Now, Doctor, what is the matter with Ragna? I am really most anxious about the child."

"My dear Signora," he said, "there is nothing to be alarmed about; I find her very much run down--there may be something more, but until I am certain I prefer not to say anything. All that she needs for the present is complete rest and quiet. I shall go up now and see if her headache is any better, and afterwards I would like to talk over with you the course of treatment I wish to propose for her general health."

"I will go up with you," said Fru Bjork, gathering her skirts about her.

The Doctor raised a deprecating hand.

"Afterwards, my dear lady, afterwards. With her head as bad as it was this morning, she ought not to see more than one person at a time."

"Just as you say, Doctor--and I hope you will find the poor child more comfortable. I can't tell you Doctor, how glad I am that you are here to look after her--I have worried over her so, I love her as though she were my own child, and that's a fact. Go up to her then, and I'll wait for you here." She sank on to a wicker settee, fanning herself with an awkward jerky movement.

Ferrati went to Ragna's room, and listened an instant at the door; there was no sound within--He tapped gently and entered in obedience to a languid "Come in!"

Ragna lay on the bed, staring towards the window. She was very pale, her eyes had dark circles and her features looked pinched and worn--In a toneless voice she asked the Doctor to be seated, and he drew a chair beside the bed. He felt her pulse, which was regular, but weak, and glanced anxiously at the sharpened delicacy of her face.

"How do you feel by now?"

"Oh, very tired," she answered wearily, "and rather stunned. My head seems too weak to think--and I must think," she added desperately, pa.s.sing a hand over her forehead.

"I told you not to worry, that I would do the thinking for you," he reminded her. "Now is it essential that your friends should not guess--or could you take Fru Bjork into your confidence? Would she not help you?" He thought of the motherly anxiety the good woman had just displayed, and wondered if Virginia had not been wrong.

"Fru Bjork!" exclaimed Ragna, shuddering. "Oh, no! I would rather die than tell Fru Bjork! She is a good woman, she would not understand--she would despise me! Oh, not Fru Bjork!"

"Then if it won't do to tell her, you must find a way to leave her without her suspecting. You cannot remain with her much longer--not a day longer than can be helped."

"But how shall I manage it?"

"We will think of some way, and as for the rest, you must come back to Florence, and I will see you through with this. My wife says that you may tell your friends you are going to stop with her--she is very sorry for you, and will do all she can to help you."

"Then you told her--she knows?"

"She had guessed already, but you need not worry, she is quite safe--and my child, you must have some woman friend to help you now. Virginia will do all she can."

"The Signora is very good--but oh, I shall feel ashamed to see her again--now!"

"You need not, I a.s.sure you, she understands, and is full of sympathy."

Ragna smiled faintly--it was good to hear that, after all, she would not be friendless.

"Do you know when Fru Bjork intends to return to Christiania?"

"She will be going soon now--she has always said she would go home in July, and we are at the end of June."

Ferrati pursed up his lips.

"June--next Wednesday is the first of July--if she keeps to her plan we may win through--but if she postpones her departure--In any case, I shall tell her that your health will not permit of your taking a long journey now. I shall tell her that I am afraid of a growth of some kind, a tumour, and that I wish to keep you under my observation until I can be sure. She has confidence in me, and if she can be persuaded to leave you in my care--"

"But she will never leave me like that. She is very fond of me, and nothing would induce her to leave me alone and ill in a strange country."

"We must think of a way to get her to do it, something may turn up--and in any case, if the worst comes to the worst, you can quarrel with her on some pretext or other, and leave her."

"Oh, I should hate to do that, she has been so good to me!"

"My dear child, we can't afford to consider your likes and dislikes in the matter, since you feel that you can't confide in her, you must take whatever means offers of leaving her before she finds out. However, there is no reason to precipitate matters, we can wait a few days, in case of something happening. In the meantime, you must be very careful not to arouse her suspicions in any way,--this migraine will tide you over two or three days anyway. We must arrange for you to travel back to Florence with my wife and me, next week; I shall take rooms for you near our apartment, for you can't stop on in a pension now,--and you must have a woman to do the work and look after you."

As an inspiration the thought of Carolina flashed through Ragna's mind.

"Doctor," she said, "there is that girl I promised to help, she is coming here to see me to-morrow,--she might do for a servant for me--at any rate, I should have no need to feel ashamed before her, she knows what it is to be unhappy, and it would be a way of redeeming my promise."

"You might do worse--we can certainly consider the question. Send the girl to me, I will speak to her, and make some inquiries about her. If she proves to be a suitable person, we can take her back to Florence with us."

"How kind you are to me, dear Dr. Ferrati! I don't know what I should do without you, nor how I shall ever thank you!"