“My dear fellow, she is here.”

Quite unconscious of the long blank, he supposed that they were still speaking together.

The little dressmaker stood up at the foot of the bed, humming her song, and nodded to him brightly. “I can’t shake hands, Jenny,” said Eugene, with something of his old look; “but I am very glad to see you.”

Mortimer repeated this to her, for it could only be made out by bending over him and closely watching his attempts to say it. In a little while, he added:

“Ask her if she has seen the children.”

Mortimer could not understand this, neither could Jenny herself, until he added:

“Ask her if she has smelt the flowers.”