But he would not be checked. She slid her bare feet from the bed, feeling blindly for the wooden stool which stood beside it. The bed, nearly four feet from the floor, made the stool a necessity for getting in and out. She touched the edge with her toes, lurched forward, and, despite his support, the stool slid sideways along the polished boards, throwing her to the floor with her left ankle twisted under her. She gave a cry of pain.

' What is it?' he said sharply, trying to lift her.

'My ankle—oh, it hurts!'

The ankle was badly sprained, Doctor Eustis announced when he arrived post-haste. Complete rest was imperative. There could be no thought of leaving her bed for some time.

When the physician had gone and the bustle of preparing hot compresses and herb tea had died away, Theo was surprised to discover that the headache had vanished, quite suddenly and unnoticed. She felt weak, but hungry and peaceful, except for the ache in her ankle.

Aaron was full of compunction, and, though he never reproached himself—or others—once an unfortunate circumstance had passed, he redoubled his tenderness toward Theodosia. That afternoon he made a special trip into town, where he stripped the shops along the waterfront of their latest imported delicacies. He bought French comfits made of marzi pan, a basket of dried dates and figs from Smyrna, and a large fuzzy coconut from the Spanish Main. The sea captain who sold it assured him that the liquid inside was considered most wholesome and would surely strengthen Miss Burr.

Aaron also procured a small packet of China tea perfumed with jasmine, and he had been unable to resist a pair of gilded kid slippers embroidered with white silk butterflies and reputed to have been made for a French marquise.

As he re-entered the house, followed by a servant with his bundles, he encountered Joseph gloomily descending the stairs. Joseph had been excluded from the sickroom and allowed only an occasional peck at Theo through the partly opened door. Always her eyes had been closed, and she had been unconscious of the glimpse which was all that Natalie's ideas of propriety would allow him. Even a fiancé may not enter a young girl's bedroom! 'Cc n'est pas convenable,' she told him, and though he never quite understood her French, her meaning was made plain enough.

He had, therefore, spent the last days of his stay wandering disconsolate around the house and grounds, neglected even by Aaron, who had been busy with upstate political leaders when not engaged in worrying about Theo.

Aaron was recalled to his duty as he saw the young man's air of sulky dejection.

'You look a bit mopish, Alston,' he said kindly. 'But you mustn't worry about the girl. She'll be right as a trivet once this ankle heals.'

'Can't I even see her to say good-bye before I go?' said Joseph, with resentment.