In her disappointment she could have wept, so vital, so entrancing, had been the vision.  Piteously she tried to plead with him, but it was as though an obscuring veil had been dropped upon her.  She could only utter unintelligible murmurings.  She sought for words and found them not.

And then she heard his voice quite close to her, very tender and reassuring.

“Don’t vex yourself, sweetheart!  It’s all right—­all right.”

His hand smoothed her brow; she almost fancied that he kissed her hair, but she was not certain and it did not seem to matter.  Surely nothing could ever matter again since the closing of that door!

A brief confusion was hers, a brief wandering in dark places, and then a slow deepening of the dark, the spreading of a great silence....

The last thing she heard was the steady ticking of a watch that someone held close to her.  The last thing her brain registered was the close, unvarying grip of a hand upon her wrist....

It was many hours—­it might have been years to Olga—­before she awoke.  Very slowly her clogged spirit climbed out of the deep, deep waters of oblivion in which it had been steeped.  For a long time she lay with closed eyes, semi-conscious, not troubling to summon her faculties.  At last very wearily she opened them, and found Nick seated beside her, alertly watching.

“Hullo!” she murmured languidly.

“Hullo, darling!” he made soft response.  “Had a nice sleep?”

She stared at him vaguely.  “What are you sitting there for?”

“Taking care of you,” said Nick.

She frowned, collecting her wits with difficulty.  “It’s night, isn’t it?”

“Half-past one,” said Nick.

“My dear!” She opened her eyes a little wider.  “But what are you waiting for?  Why don’t you go to bed?”

“I like sitting up sometimes,” said Nick.  “Keeps me in form.”

She turned her head on the pillow.  “Is Max here?”

“No,” said Nick.

“But—­he has been?” she persisted.

“Yes.  He’s been in now and then.”

“Ah!” Olga frowned still more.  “Am I ill, Nick?” she asked, with a touch of nervousness.

His lean hand sought and held hers.  “You’ve had a touch of sun, dear,” he said, “but you’ve slept it off.  Max is quite satisfied about you.  You’ll feel a bit rotten for a day or two, but that’s all.”

“How horrid!” said Olga.

“Don’t worry!” said Nick.  “I’m here.  I shall stick like a leech for the future.  You will never be out of my sight again in your waking hours.”

She squeezed his hand.  “Poor old Nick!  I’m dreadfully sorry.  But I had to get those raspberries.  Oh, what’s that?”

She started violently at the soft opening of the door.  Nick got up, but she clung to him so fast that he could not leave her side.  He bent down over her.

“It’s all right, darling.  It’s only Max with some refreshments.  We’ll leave you in peace as soon as you have broken your fast.”