The String of Pearls (1850), p. 227

CHAPTER XLVII.
TOBIAS RECOVERS HIS INTELLECT.

In the course of a quarter of an hour the surgeon was sent for, and then Mrs.
Ragg tapped at the drawing-room door, to give the colonel an account of the
success of her mission; but he at once said to her---
"We know all, Mrs. Ragg. We merely wish to see Tobias first, so that the
medical gentleman may see exactly his condition, and then if you will bring
Minna Gray here I will speak to her, and, I hope, put her quite at her ease as
regards what she has to do."
"Certainly, sir, certainly. Hold fast, and good comes at last."
The surgeon and the two gentlemen went to Tobias's chamber, and there
they found him in the same lethargic condition that, with only occasional
interruptions, he had continued in since he had been in the colonel's house.
These interruptions consisted in moaning appeals for mercy, and at times
the name of Todd would pass his lips, in accents which showed what a name
of terror it was to him. The surgeon placed his hand upon Tobias's head.
"Tobias!" he said, " Tobias!"
A deep sigh was his answer.
"Tobias! Tobias!"
"Oh, God! God!" cried Tobias, feebly. "Spare me---I will tell nothing. Oh, spare me, Mr. Todd.---Repent now. There, there---the blood! What a
crowd of dead men. Dead---dead---dead---all dead!"
"No better?" said the colonel.
"Not a bit. On the contrary, the longer he remains in this condition, the less chance there will be of his recovery. I shall lose hope, if this last experiment produces no good results. Let us go and speak to the young girl."
They all descended to the drawing-room, and Minna Gray was summoned.
Colonel Jeffery took her kindly by the hand and led her to a seat, and then he
said to her---
"Now, Miss Gray, remember that all here are friends to you and to Tobias, and that we all feel deeply for him and for you. You are very young, both of you, but that is no reason on earth why you should not love each other."
Minna looked up at him through her tears, as she said---
"Is he very---very ill?"
"He is indeed. We suspect---indeed, I may say we know, that his mind has
received so severe a shock that, for a time, it is deranged; but we hope that,
as that derangement, you understand, has not arisen from any disease, pleasant
and agreeable impressions may restore him. What we want you to do
is to speak to him as you, no doubt, have been in the habit of doing in happier times."
"Yes, yes, sir."
"I think you know exactly what we mean?"
"I do, sir---indeed I do."
"Oh, bless you, sir, she understands," said Mrs. Ragg. "A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse, you know, gentlemen. Handsome is as handsome does---as I used to say to the late Mr. Ragg, who is naturally dead and gone, and accordingly buried in St. Martin's---"
"You can tell us that another time, madam," said the surgeon. "At present, you see we are rather busy. Now, Miss Gray, if you will have the goodness to come with me, we will see what can be done for our young friend above stairs."
Poor Minna Gray! How her colour went and came like the sunlight of an April day, as she accompanied the three gentlemen and Mrs. Ragg up stairs to