"Hugh,
follow me, and let us learn whether I have trusted to God in vain."
Then very gently he opened the door, and they passed in together,
closing it behind them.
This is what Hugh saw. At the far end of the room was a bed, near to
which stood a lamp that showed, sitting up in the bed, a beautiful young
woman, whose dark hair fell all about her. Her face was flushed but not
wasted or made dreadful by the sickness, as happened to so many. There
she sat staring before her with her large dark eyes and a smile upon her
sweet lips, like one that muses on happy things.
"See," whispered Sir Andrew, "she is awakened from her swoon. I think I
did not trust in vain, my son."
She caught the tones of his voice and spoke.
"Is that you, Father?" she asked dreamily. "Draw near, for I have such a
strange story to tell you."
He obeyed, leaving Hugh in the shadow, and she went on:
"Just now I awoke from my sleep and saw a man standing by my bed."
"Yes, yes," Sir Andrew said, "the physician whom I sent for to see you."
"Do physicians in Avignon wear caps of red and yellow and robes of black
fur and strings of great black pearls that, to tell truth, I coveted
sorely?" she asked, laughing a little. "No, no. If this were a
physician, he is of the sort that heals souls. Indeed, now that I think
of it, when I asked him his name and business, he answered that the
first was the Helper, and the second, to bring peace to those in
trouble.
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