She had barely recovered her composure when he came in, having found his
patient not in need of a lengthened visit.

His face was bright, his tone cheery and kind, as he bade her
good-morning, and asked after her health.

"I'm very well, thank you," she said, giving him her hand. "Is Miss
Deane's accident a very bad one?"

"It is a severe sprain," he said: "she will not be able to bear her
weight upon that ankle for six weeks." Then seeing Zoe's look of dismay,
shrewdly guessing at the cause, he hastened to add, "But she might be
sent home in an ambulance a few days hence, without the least injury."

Zoe looked greatly relieved, Edward scarcely less so.

"I can't understand how she came to fall," remarked Arthur reflectively.

"Nor I," said Zoe. "Wouldn't it be well for you to advise her never to
set foot on that dangerous veranda again?"

Arthur smiled. "That would be a waste of breath," he said, "while Ion is
so delightful a place to visit."

"How are they all at Viamede?" he asked, turning to Edward.

"Quite well at last accounts, thank you," Edward replied, adding, with a
slight sigh, "I wish they were here,--my mother at least, if none of the
others."