The doctor thought it was probably nothing more than the complete
prostration that might follow eight days of sea-sickness, but the
patient's heart was certainly a little weak, and she needed the
utmost quiet. His fee was a guinea for the first visit, and he
would drop in again in the course of the afternoon to relieve our
anxiety. We took turns in watching by her bedside, but the two
unemployed ones lingered forlornly near, and had no heart for
sightseeing. Francesca did, however, purchase opera tickets for the
evening, and secretly engaged the housemaid to act as head nurse in
our absence.

As we were dining at seven, we heard a faint voice in the little
room beyond. Salemina left her dinner and went in to find her
charge slightly better. We had been able thus far only to take off
her dress, shoes, and such garments as made her uncomfortable;
Salemina now managed to slip on a nightdress and put her under the
bedcovers, returning then to her cold mutton cutlet.

"She's an extraordinary person," she said, absently playing with her
knife and fork. "She didn't ask me where she was, or show any
interest in her surroundings; perhaps she is still too weak. She
said she was better, and when I had made her ready for bed, she
whispered, 'I've got to say my prayers'.

"'Say them by all means,' I replied.

"'But I must get up and kneel down, she said.

"I told her she must do nothing of the sort; that she was far too