Frau Van der Werff, you have been kept waiting a long time, please follow me." It had grown dark.

The curtains of the sick-room were lowered and a small lamp, burning behind a screen, shed but a feeble light.
The doctor approached the bed, felt Henrica's pulse, said a few words in a low tone to prepare her for her visitor, and then took the lamp to see how the invalid looked.
Maria now beheld a pale face with regular outline, whose dark eyes, in their size and lustre, formed a striking contrast to the emaciated cheeks and sunken features of the sick girl.
After old Sister Gonzaga had restored the lamp to its former place, the physician said: "Excellent! Now, Sister, go and change the bandage on your arm and lie down." Then he beckoned Maria to approach.
Henrica's face made a strange impression upon the burgomaster's wife.
She thought her beautiful, but the large eyes and firmly-shut lips seemed peculiar, rather than attractive.

Yet she instantly obeyed the physician's summons, approached the bed, said kindly that she had been glad to come to stay with her a short time, and asked what she desired.
At these words, Henrica raised herself and with a sigh of relief, exclaimed: "That does me good! Thanks, Doctor.

That's a human voice again.

If you want to please me, Frau Van der Werff keep on talking, no matter what you say.