She neither prayed nor wept, and scarcely moved; and I dared not. At
last, however, a great drowsiness came over me; and when I awoke I
almost thought I had dreamt it all, for the daylight was streaming in,
and I was alone.
Later in the day when I saw Ideala she had just finished writing a
letter.
"Shall I take it down for you?" I asked. "The man will come for the
others presently."
She handed it to me without a word. On the way downstairs I saw that it
was addressed to Lorrimer, of whom I had not then heard, but somehow I
could not help thinking that this letter had something to do with what
I had seen the night before.
For a day or two after that Ideala seemed better. Then she grew
restless, which was a new phase of her malady; she had been so still
before; and soon it was evident that she was devoured by anxiety which
she could not conceal. I felt sure she was expecting someone, or
something, that never came. For days she wandered up and down, up and
down, and she neither ate nor slept.
One afternoon I went to ask if she had any letters for the post. At
first she said she had not, then she wanted to know how soon the post
was going.
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