He also opined that the great Greene might not perhaps
have succeeded much better than Mrs. Heath, even if he had not been
bilious. When the dressing was finished, the gruesome terror of Louis'
appearance seemed to be much increased. The heroic sufferer rose and
glanced at himself in the mirror, and gave a faint whistle.
"Oh! So that's what I look like, is it? Well, what price me as a
victim of the Inquisition!" he remarked.
"I should advise you not to take exercise just now, young man," said
the doctor. "D'you feel pretty well?"
"Pretty well," answered Louis, and sat down.
In the lobby the doctor, once more in a hurry, said to Rachel--
"Better get him quietly to bed. The wounds are not serious, but he's
had a very severe shock."
"He's not marked for life, is he?" Rachel asked anxiously.
"I shouldn't think so," said the doctor, as if the point was a minor
one. "Let him have some nourishment. You can begin with hot milk--but
put some water to it," he added when he was half-way down the steps.
As Rachel re-entered the parlour she said to herself: "I shall just
have to get him to bed somehow, whatever he says! If he's unpleasant
he must _be_ unpleasant, that's all."
And she hardened her heart.
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