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Page 68
But the elder refused.
"Few will sleep under this roof to-night," he said. "There is a
spirit of human anxiety and distress apparent, and naturally so. I
will stay here with this good man. He is better company than many
of the living. I feel a great peace here. The dead sustains me."
He joined Mannering, however, in an appeal to his daughter, and,
satisfied that their friend would not be far off at any time, Mary
presently left them. She declared herself as not anxious or
nervous. She had never believed that anything but natural causes
were responsible for her husband's death, and felt an assurance
that morning would bring some measure, at least, of explanation.
She went out of the room with Mannering, and, promising her to
keep a close watch on her father, the doctor left Mary, lighted
his pipe, and strolled to the billiard-room. Presently he
patrolled the hall and pursued his own reflections. Where his
thoughts bent, there his body unconsciously turned, and, forgetting
the injunction of the silent men aloft--indeed, forgetting them
also for a moment--Mannering ascended the stairs and proceeded
along the corridor toward the Grey Room. But he did not get far.
Out of the darkness a figure rose and stopped him. The man turned
an electric torch on Dr. Mannering, and recognized him. It
appeared that while one detective kept guard outside, the others
watched within. At the sound of voices the door of the Grey Room
opened, and in the bright light that streamed from it a weird
figure stood--a tall, black object with huge and flashing eyes
and what looked like an elephant's trunk descending from between
them. The watchers, wearing hoods and gas masks, resembled the
fantastic demons of a Salvator Rosa, or Fuselli. Their chief now
accosted the doctor somewhat sharply. He knew his name and
received his apology, but bade him leave the corridor at once. "I
must, however, search you first," said Frith. "You were wrong to
come," he continued. "This is no time to distract us. Explain
to-morrow, please."
The doctor, after holding up his hands and submitting to a very
close scrutiny, departed and swore at his own inadvertence. He
had forgotten that, in common with everybody else involved, he must
bear the brunt of suspicion, and he perceived that his approach to
the Grey Room, after it was clearly understood that none should on
any account attempt to do so, must attract unpleasant attention to
himself. And he could offer no better excuse than that he had
forgotten the order. He apprehended an unpleasantness on the
following day, and wondered at himself that he could have done
anything so open to question. Brain fag was a poor excuse, but he
had none better.
In an hour he returned to Sir Walter, hoping to find him asleep;
but the master of Chadlands was still reading, and in a frame of
mind very quiet and peaceful. He regretted the forgetfulness that
had taken his friend into the forbidden gallery.
"I am concerned for Mary," he said. "She is only keeping up at a
terrible cost of nervous power. It is more than time that she
was away; but she will not go until I am able to accompany her."
"It should not be long. We must hope they will get to the bottom
of it soon, if not to-night. I am most anxious for both of you to
be off."
"We design to go to Italy. She shrinks from the Riviera and longs
for Florence, or some such peaceful place."
"It will be cold there."
"Cold won't hurt us."
"Shall you shut up Chadlands?"
"Impossible. It is the only home of half my elder people. But,
if nothing is discovered and we are still left without an
explanation, I shall seal the Grey Room--windows, door, and hearth--
unless the authorities direct otherwise. I wish I could fill
the place with solid stone or concrete, so that it would cease to
be a room at all."
"That you can't do," answered the practical doctor. "Such a weight
would bring down the ceiling beneath. But you can make it fast and
block it up if the thing beats them."
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