|
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 82
But when Doctor Gordon entered this vision was clouded, for Gordon's
face had reassumed its old expression of settled melancholy and despair.
He inquired how James found himself with an apathetic air, and then sat
down and mechanically filled his pipe. After it was filled he seemed to
forget to light it, so deep was his painful reverie. He sat with it in
hand, staring straight ahead. Then a strange thing happened. The office
door opened and Mrs. Blair, the nurse, entered. She was dressed in
black, she carried a black travelling bag, and she wore a black bonnet,
with a high black tuft on the top by way of trimming. Mrs. Blair was
very tall, and this black tuft, when she entered the door, barely grazed
the lintel.
Gordon rose and said good evening, and regarded her in a bewildered
fashion, as did James and Clemency.
Mrs. Blair spoke with no preface. "I am going to leave Alton," she said
in her severe voice, "and I want to tell you something first, and to say
good-by." She looked at Gordon, then at the others, one after another,
then at Gordon again. "I did not think at first that it would be
necessary for me to say what I am going to," she continued, "but I
overheard some things that were said that night, and I have been
thinking--and then I heard the other day (I don't know how true it is)
that Clemency and Doctor Elliot had had a falling out, and I didn't know
but--I didn't quite know what anybody thought, and I wanted you all to
know the truth. I didn't want any mistakes made to cause unhappiness."
She hesitated, her eyes upon Doctor Gordon grew more intense. "Maybe
_you_ think you gave her that dose of morphine that killed her," she
said steadily, "but you didn't. Doctor Elliot gave her water, and you
gave her mostly water. I had diluted the morphine, and you didn't know
it. I had made up my mind that she was going to have the morphine, but I
had made up my mind that nobody but me should have the responsibility of
it. I'm all alone in the world, and my conscience upheld me, and I felt
I'd rather take the blame, if there was to be any. I made up my mind to
wait till a certain time and then give it to her, and I did. I am the
one who gave her the morphine that killed her. I am going to leave Alton
for good. My trunk is down at the station. I came to tell you that I
gave her the morphine, and if I did wrong in helping God to shorten her
sufferings, I am the one to be punished, and I stand ready to bear the
punishment."
Gordon looked at her. He did not speak, but it was with his face as if a
mask of dreadful misery had dropped from it.
"Good-by!" said Mrs. Blair. She went out of the door, and the black tuft
on her bonnet barely grazed the lintel.
THE END
OTHER WORKS BY MARY E. WILKINS-FREEMAN
THE HUMBLE ROMANCE and Other Stories
Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25
"A collection of stories of New England life as clearly cut as etchings,
marvellous in simplicity and finish."
JANE FIELD: A Novel
Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25
"A tragedy told in a few words, moving with the unswerving directness of
a Greek play. The novel is lightened by a delicate love interest and
touches of homely humor."
THE NEW ENGLAND NUN AND OTHER STORIES
16mo. Cloth, $1.25
"Stories of New England village life, the best hitherto written by this
author, surpassing those contained in the collection entitled 'The
Humble Romance.'"
SILENCE AND OTHER STORIES
Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|