Then he turned his head sharply towards her with a gasp as if in pain;
and his eyes fell on Isabel.
"Mistress Isabel," he said; and his voice was broken and untuneful.
Mistress Margaret turned; and smiled at her; and at the sight the
intolerable compression on the girl's heart relaxed.
"Come, child," she said, "come and help me with his hand. No, no, lie
still," she added; for James was making a movement as if to rise.
James smiled at her as she came forward; and she saw that his face had a
strange look as if after a long illness.
"You see, Mistress Isabel," he said, in the same cracked voice, and with
an infinitely pathetic courtesy, "I may not rise."
Isabel's eyes filled with sudden tears, his attempt at his old manner was
more touching than all else; and she came and knelt beside the old nun.
"Hold the fingers," she said; and the familiar old voice brought the girl
a stage nearer her normal consciousness again.
Isabel took the priest's fingers and saw that they were limp and swollen.
The sleeve fell back a little as Mistress Margaret manipulated the
bandage; and the girl saw that the forearm looked shapeless and
discoloured.
She glanced up in swift terror at his face, but he was looking at his
mother, whose eyes were bent on his; Isabel looked quickly down again.
"There," said Mistress Margaret, tying the last knot, "it is done."
Mr. James looked his thanks over his shoulder at her, as she nodded and
smiled before turning to leave the room.
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