“Oh, yes,” she answered; “I know several families of Olliviers.  I dare say I should know this person if you could tell me her Christian name.  Is it Jane, or Martha, or Rachel?”

“I don’t know,” I said; “I did not ask.”

Should I tell my mother about my mysterious patient?  I hesitated for a minute or two.  But to what good?  It was not my habit to talk about my patients and their ailments.  I left them all behind me when I crossed the threshold of home.  My mother’s brief curiosity had been satisfied with the name of Ollivier, and she made no further inquiries about her.  But to expedite me in my purpose, she rang, and gave orders for old Pellet, our only man-servant, to find a strong hamper, and told the cook to look out some jars of preserve.

The packing of that hamper interested me wonderfully; and my mother, rather amazed at my taking the superintendence of it in person, stood by me in her store-closet, letting me help myself liberally.  There was a good space left after I had taken sufficient to supply Miss Ollivier with good things for some weeks to come.  If my mother had not been by, I should have filled it up with books.

“Give me a loaf or two of white bread,” I said; “the bread at Tardif’s is coarse and hard, as I know after eating it for a week.  A loaf, if you please, dear mother.”

“Whatever are you doing here, Martin?” exclaimed Julia’s unwelcome voice behind me.  Her bilious attack had not quite passed away, and her tones were somewhat sharp and raspy.

“He has been living on Tardif’s coarse fare for a week,” answered my mother; “so now he has compassion enough for his Sark patient to pack up some dainties for her.  If you could only give him one or two of your bad headaches, he would have more sympathy for you.”

“Have you had one of your headaches, Julia?” I inquired.

“The worst I ever had,” she answered.  “It was partly your going off in that rash way, and the storm that came on after, and the fright we were in.  You must not think of going again, Martin.  I shall take care you don’t go after we are married.”

Julia had been used to speak out as calmly about our marriage as if it was no more than going to a picnic.  It grated upon me just then; though it had been much the same with myself.  There was no delightful agitation about the future that lay before us.  We were going to set up housekeeping by ourselves, and that was all.  There was no mystery in it; no problem to be solved; no discovery to be made on either side.  There would be no Blue Beard’s chamber in our dwelling.  We had grown up together; now we had agreed to grow old together.  That was the sum total of marriage to Julia and me.