When Helen recovered she found herself lying in a large comfortable bed propped up with pillows. The room was large, cheerful and beautifully furnished. A small table covered with a white cloth was by the bedside with medicine bottles upon it. A bright fire burnt in the grate. The blinds were down and warm red curtains pulled across the large bow window.

A small lamp was carefully placed where no light or glare could reach the bed and the very atmosphere of the room spoke of extreme comfort.

A nurse, in a white cap and apron was gliding noislessly about the room arranging things here and there.

For a moment Helen lay quite still staring about her plerpexedly, but on making a slight movement in the bed the nurse turned round, "So you are awake at last miss?" she said in a slow gentle voice, "do you know you have slept quite quietly for three hours."

"Where are am I?" asked Helen gazing from the kind face of the nurse around the strange room.

"You are in Lord Beaufort's house in Portman Square" replied the nurse.

"Lord Beaufort?" repeated Helen, "I have heard the name before."

"Yes you have" said the nurse, "Miss Lincarrol is here you know, and her brother, and your old servant Mrs. Marshland, so you see no one has deserted you."

"Except Cyril" sighed Helen.

"You must not think of that now" replied the nurse soothingly, "all you have to do is rest and keep quiet; I expect Miss Lincarrol will be up soon, she has come twice already only you were asleep, now take your medicine and then lay quiet; you will hear all the story soon from other lips than mine."

Thus reassured Helen took her cooling draught and lay down, patiently awaiting any visitor who would enlighten her as to past events. Her thoughts naturally enough wandered back to the episode of Cyril's departure and she was getting extremely restless, much to the nurse's dismay, when the door softly opened and Gladys appeared in the room.

With a smile she instantly ran to the bedside and Helen tried to raise herself to greet her friend, but her head instantly swam round and she fell back on the pillow, white and gasping. The nurse gave her a dose of medicine and she quickly came to herself again.

"You must not try to exert yourself too much" said the nurse kindly, "it will do you no good, and will only hinder your recovery."

"Very well" said Helen faintly, "but how is it I get so queer?"

"Because your head is in a weak state" replied the nurse, "and it will probable injure you very much to rampage."

It would take too long to relate the history of Helen's illness as Helen heard it from Gladys's lips, with all the details and exagertions, so we will go back a little bit and see what happened after Helen swooned away.