The Last Woman

Morton's eyes began to wink rapidly, and Roderick called Patricia's attention to the fact.

"Yes; I know that I am getting ahead of my story," she said, as if she perfectly understood what the winking meant. "Richard was like a dead man when we arrived at the sanatorium--all save his eyes, and the fact that he breathed. He was completely paralyzed; only his eyes, and the lids over them, retained the power of motion. He was terribly injured. The doctor said he would not die, but that he would never move a muscle of his body again, no matter how long he might live. The power of speech was gone, too. Only his eyes lived; the rest of him--all but his eyes and his great heart--was dead."

Morton's eyes began to wink rapidly, again.

"Yes, I shall tell it all; only, let me do it in my own way," Patricia said to him. "Mr. Radnor told me that he had given fictitious names for both of us to the doctor. At first, I was offended because of it, but later, I was glad. The doctor permitted me to assist in the nursing--I ... I told him that I was Richard's wife. Mr. Radnor had already given that impression. I did not deny it; I made it more emphatic, in order that I might take the direction of affairs. When Mr. Radnor went away, he said he would return the following day; but I did not want him to do that, and so, when the next day came, I persuaded the doctor to telephone to him that he must not come. Also, when Mr. Radnor took his departure, I sent Patrick with him, to care for Jack's car. I told him to deliver it at the garage, and then to return to me, at the sanatorium, for further orders. But, when he came back, he told me he had abandoned the car in the streets of New York, knowing that it would be found and claimed, and wishing to avoid the necessity of answering questions. Am I telling the story satisfactorily now, Richard?"

Slowly, the speaking eyes drooped their assent, and she went on: "At the end of a few days, Richard was much better of his hurts. There was no change in the other condition--the one that still holds him so helpless. I seemed to have a positive genius for understanding him, and he made me know--you see, I kept asking questions till he made the positive or the negative sign. I hit upon that idea because once, Roderick, you made me read 'The Count of Monte Cristo,' and I remembered old Nortier--Well, Richard made me understand several things. One was that he wished to come here, as soon as possible; another was that, most emphatically, he did not wish to have any of the old friends and acquaintances in New York know what had happened to him. Fortunately, he had a large sum of money in his pockets--What are you insisting about now, Richard?" she concluded, with a smile, perceiving that the eyelids of the stricken man were working rapidly. He looked steadily at her, and she shrugged her shoulders.