“My doctor insisted on my sitting down again to get my breath. He now said something to his wife who, without leaving her place, addressed a few words of gratitude and courtesy to me. She seemed very shy over it, and her sickly face flushed up with confusion. I remained, but with the air of a man who knows he is intruding and is anxious to get away. The doctor’s remorse at last seemed to need a vent, I could see.

“ ‘If I⁠—’ he began, breaking off abruptly every other moment, and starting another sentence. ‘I⁠—I am so very grateful to you, and I am so much to blame in your eyes, I feel sure, I⁠—you see⁠—’ (he pointed to the room again) ‘at this moment I am in such a position⁠—’

“ ‘Oh!’ I said, ‘there’s nothing to see; it’s quite a clear case⁠—you’ve lost your post and have come up to make explanations and get another, if you can!’

“ ‘How do you know that?’ he asked in amazement.