|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 77
"How?"
"You know. You gave her more morphine, and her heart was weak. Emma
overheard Uncle Tom say so, and that more morphine was dangerous. She
might have been alive to-day if it had not been for you."
James sat staring at the girl. She went on pitilessly. "You did not see
Emma that last time you came upstairs," she said, "but she saw you. She
was standing in the door of her room, and she had no light. She saw you
and Mrs. Blair going away from her room, and she heard Mrs. Blair tell
you she was dead. You killed her. I want nothing whatever to do with a
murderer."
James remembered that draught of cold air. It must have come from the
open door of Emma's room at the end of the hall. He understood that Emma
could not have seen him coming upstairs, but that she had seen him with
Mrs. Blair at the door of the sick-room, and had jumped at her
conclusion.
"Emma knew when you went upstairs first," said Clemency. "You left her
door a little ajar. Emma saw you giving her a hypodermic. And then when
that did not kill her you gave her another. Uncle Tom did not know. He
must never know, for it would kill him, but you did kill her."
James was silent for a moment. He realized the impossibility of clearing
himself from the accusation unless he told the whole truth and
implicated Doctor Gordon. Finally he said, miserably enough, "You don't
know how horribly she was suffering, dear. You don't know what torments
she would have had to suffer."
He knew when he said that that he incriminated himself. Clemency
retorted immediately, "You don't know. I have heard Uncle Tom say that
nobody can ever know. She might have gotten well. Anyway, you killed
her." With that Clemency sprang up and ran out of the room, and James
heard her sob.
As for himself, he remained where he was for a long time. He never knew
how long. He felt numb. He realized himself to be in a gulf of
misunderstanding, from which he could not be extricated, even for the
sake of Clemency. It seemed to him again that he must go away, but he
remembered Gordon's pitiful plea to him to remain. Finally he went into
his room, to find that Emma, in her absurd malice, had left only the
coverlid on the bed. She had stripped it of the sheets and blankets. He
lay down with his clothes on and passed a sleepless night.
The next morning at the breakfast-table he looked haggard and pale. He
could eat nothing. Doctor Gordon looked at him keenly.
"What is the matter, Elliot?" he asked.
Clemency gave a quick glance at him, and her face worked.
"Nothing," replied James.
"You look downright ill."
"I am not ill."
Clemency rose abruptly and left the table.
"What is the matter, Clemency? Where are you going?" Gordon called out.
"I have finished my breakfast," the girl replied in a stifled voice.
Gordon insisted on making some calls that morning, and relieving James.
"You are worn out, my son," he said in a voice of real affection, and
clapped him on the shoulder. He sent James on a short round in spite of
his objections, and the consequence was that James reached home half an
hour before luncheon.
It was a beautiful morning. Spring seemed to have come with a winged
leap. A faint down of green shaded the elms, and there was a pink cloud
of peach bloom in the distance. The cherry trees were swollen almost to
blossom, and the apple trees had pale radiances in the glance of the
sun. The grass was quite green, and here and there were dandelions.
Clemency was out in the yard, working in a little flower-garden, as
James drove in. She had on a black dress, and her fair head was
uncovered. She pretended not to see James, but he had hardly entered the
office before she came in. Her face was all suffused with pink. She
looked at him tenderly and angrily.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|