I'd tell you if he were dead.

He isn't.

Lansdale thinks there is a slight change for the better.

So I came to tell you." Every tense nerve and muscle in her body seemed to give way at the same instant as she dropped to the lounge.

For a moment her mind was only a confused void, then the routine instinct of self-control asserted itself; she made the effort required of her, groping for composure and self-command.
"He is better, you say ?" "Lansdale said there was a change which might be slightly favourable....
I wish I could say more than that, Shiela." "But--he _is_ better, then ?"--pitifully persistent.
Malcourt looked at her a moment.