"What has happened?" repeated Miss Margaret, sternly. "Get to the pointat once, Andrew."
"It was this way, Miss Margaret," he cried. "Master sent me for a glassof brandy. I brought it to him. He always likes a few drops of cordialput in it, and I went to his dresser, where I had placed the cordial afew minutes before, took up the bottle hurriedly, and shook in agenerous quantity. Now it happened that I had also taken out a bottle ofdrops--quieting drops which master had been taking for the last twonights for a violent toothache--it is a powerful narcotic--to make himsleep and forget his pain, he told me. I--I--don't know how I could havedone it; I--I was not conscious of doing it; but somehow I must have putthe drops instead of the cordial into his brandy, for he has fallen intoa deep sleep, from which I am unable to awaken him."
"Thank Heaven, it is no worse!" sobbed Miss Margaret. "I--I was afraidsome terrible accident had happened."
While he was speaking, Sally had run into the corridor and made thepretense of listening to the valet's dilemma, while Antoinette stoodback in the shadow laughing to herself at the strange way fate orfortune or luck, or whatever it was, had played into her clever hands.
This was, indeed, an unexpected dilemma. Following the valet into herbrother's apartments, she found Andrew's statement indeed true--herbrother was in a sound sleep, from which all their efforts were futileto awake him.
"There is nothing else to be done but to go down without him," she saidat length in despair, turning to Sally. "The effect of the potion oughtto wear off in an hour or so, then he can join the guests."
The entrance of Miss Margaret and the bride created quite a sensation;but when the former explained the ludicrous mistake which caused thedoctor's temporary absence from them, their mirth burst all bounds, andthe very roof of the grand old mansion shook with peal after peal ofhearty laughter.
So the fun and merriment went on until he should join them, and thehappy, dazzling, beautiful young bride was the petted queen of the hour.
Old Mrs. Gardiner was greatly disappointed because her beautifuldaughter-in-law did not wear the famous family diamonds, but when Sallyslipped up to her and whispered that she had forgotten, in herexcitement over Jay's mishap, to don them, the old lady was mollified.
The evening ran its length, and ended at last. Midnight had come, givingplace to a new moon, and in the wee sma' hours the festive guests hadtaken their departure, each wishing with a jolly little laugh, to beremembered to their host when he should awake. The lights were out inthe magnificent drawing-room and in the corridor.
Young Mrs. Gardiner was at last in her own _boudoir_, in the hands ofAntoinette.
It was generally late in the morning when those pretty blue eyes opened.But it was little more than daylight when Antoinette came to her couch,grasped hurriedly the pink-and-white arm that lay on the lace coverlet,saying, hoarsely:
"You are wanted, my lady. You must come at once. Master is worse; thatis, he is sleeping more heavily than ever. Miss Margaret did not leavehis side all night, Andrew tells me, and she says the nearest doctormust be sent for. I thought it would look better if you were at hisbedside, too, when the doctor came."
"You did quite right to awaken me, Antoinette," replied young Mrs.Gardiner. "Get me my morning robe, and slippers to match, at once, andtake my hair out of these curl-papers. One can not appear before one'shusband's relatives without making a careful toilet and looking one'sbest, for their Argus eyes are sure to take in any defects. I hope myhusband will not have a long sickness or anything like that. I can notendure a sick-room. I think I should go mad. Hurry, Antoinette! Arrangemy toilet as quickly as possible. I shall go into the grounds for abreath of fresh air before I venture into the heated atmosphere of thatroom, in which no doubt the lamps are still burning."
"I would advise you _not_ to go into the grounds, my lady," repliedAntoinette, quietly.
"Why, I should like to know?" asked young Mrs. Gardiner, very sharply.
"I have a reason for what I say," returned Antoinette; "but it is bestnot to tell you--just now."
"I demand to know!" declared her mistress.
"If you _must_ know, I suppose I may as well tell you now as at anyother time, my lady," replied Antoinette; "though the news I have totell may make you a trifle nervous, I fear. I was just out in thegrounds gathering roses for your vase, when, to my astonishment, I heardmy name called softly, but very distinctly, from the direction of alittle brook which runs through the grounds scarcely more than a hundredfeet from the hedge where the roses grew that I was gathering. I turnedquickly in that direction. At first I saw no one, and I was about toturn away, believing my ears must have deceived me, when suddenly thetall alder-bushes parted, and a man stepped forth, beckoning to me, andthat man, my lady, was--Mr. Victor Lamont!"
CHAPTER XLIX.
Sally Gardiner grew deathly pale as Antoinette's words fell upon herear. Had she heard aright, or were her ears playing her a horribletrick?
"Mr. Victor Lamont is in the grounds, my lady, hiding among the thickalder-bushes down by the brook, and he vows he will stay there, be itday, week, month, or year, until he gets an opportunity to see and speakwith you."
"You must manage to see him at once, Antoinette, and give him a messagefrom me. Tell him I will see him to-morrow night--at--at midnight, downby the brook-side. I can not, I dare not, come before that, lest I mightattract the attention of the inmates of the house. If--if he shouldquestion you about my affairs, or, in fact, about anything, make answerthat you do not know to all inquiries--all questions. Be off at once,Antoinette. Delays are dangerous, you know."
As soon as she found herself alone, young Mrs. Gardiner turned the keyin the lock, and flew at once to her writing-desk. Antoinette had laidseveral letters upon it. The letters--the writing upon two of whichseemed rather familiar to her--were from the gentlemen who had loanedher the money a short time before at Newport. One stated that he shouldbe in that vicinity at the end of the week, asking if she could find itconvenient to pay part of the loan he had made to her when he calledupon her. The other letter stated that the writer would be obliged ifshe could pay the money to his daughter when it became due. "She is agreat friend of Miss Margaret Gardiner's," he went on to state, "and hasdecided to accept an invitation to spend a fortnight at the mansion, andwould arrive there the following week."
Sally Gardiner tore both letters into shreds, and cast them from herwith a laugh that was terrible to hear.
"I shall trust my wit to see me safely through this affair," shemuttered. "I do not know just how it is to be done, but I shallaccomplish it somehow."
There was a tap at the door. Thrusting the letters quickly in her desk,she closed the lid, securely locked it, and put the key in the pocket ofher dress.
She was about to say "Come in," when she suddenly remembered that shehad fastened the door. When she opened it, she found Andrew, herhusband's valet, standing there with a very white, troubled face.
"I am sorry to hurry you, my lady," he said in a tremulous voice; "butmaster seems so much worse we are sore afraid for him. Miss Margaretbids me summon you without a moment's delay."
"I shall be there directly," replied the young wife; and the valetwondered greatly at the cool way in which she took the news of herhusband's serious condition.
"Those pretty society young women have no hearts," he thought,indignantly. "She married my poor young master for his money, not forlove; that is quite evident to me."
Young Mrs. Gardiner was just about to leave her _boudoir_, whenAntoinette returned.
"You saw him and delivered my message?" said Sally, anxiously.
"Oh, yes, my lady," returned the girl.
"Well," said Sally, expectantly, "what did he say?"
"He was raving angry, my lady," laughed Antoinette. "He swore as I toldhim all; but at length he cooled down, seeing that his rage did not mendmatters. 'Take this to your mistress, my good girl,' he said, tearing aleaf from his memorandum-book, and scribbling hastily, upon it. Here itis, my la
dy."
As she spoke, she thrust a crumpled bit of paper into young Mrs.Gardiner's trembling hand.
There was no date; the note contained but a few lines, and read asfollows:
"I shall be by the alder-bushes at midnight to-morrow night, and shall expect you to be equally punctual. No subterfuge, please. If for any reason you should fail to keep your appointment, I shall call upon you directly after breakfast the following morning, and shall see you--_at any cost_!
"LAMONT."
She would not give herself any worry until she stood face to face withVictor Lamont; then some sort of an excuse to put him off would be sureto come to her.
There was another tap at the door. It was Andrew again, standing on thethreshold, shaking like an aspen leaf.
"Pardon me, my lady; Miss Margaret begs me to urge you to make allpossible haste."
"I am coming now," she answered; and, looking into her face, Andrewmarveled at the indifferent expression on it, and at the harshness ofher voice.
She followed him without another word. A frightened cry broke from herlips as she hastily crossed the room, and bent over the couch on whichher husband lay.
He was marble white, and looked so strange, she thought he was certainlydying.
"We have sent for all the doctors about here. They are expected everymoment," said Miss Margaret, touching her sister-in-law on the arm. "Ithought that in a consultation they would find some way to save him ifit lay in human power."
Sally looked up in affright into the calm white face beside her. Shetried to speak, but no sound fell from her cold, parched lips.
When the great doctors came, they would find that Jay Gardiner had nottaken the mild sleeping draught which poor Andrew believed he hadadministered to him by mistake; but, instead, a most powerful drug, anoverdose of which meant death. Yes, they would find it out, and then----She dared not think what would happen then.
"I have been looking carefully into this affair," continued MissMargaret, in that same calm, clear voice, "and I have reason to believethere is something terribly wrong here. I have often taken the samedrops for sleeplessness that Andrew says has been administered to mybrother, and it never produced that effect upon me, and on several casesI have taken an overdose."
"I--I--suppose--the--the--drug--acts differently upon differentconstitutions," answered young Mrs. Gardiner.
Her eyes seemed fairly glued upon the still, white face lying back onthe not whiter pillow. She could not have removed her gaze if her verylife had been at stake.
"I have a strange theory," continued Miss Margaret, slowly, and in thatterribly calm voice that put Sally's nerves on edge. "A very strangetheory."
Margaret Gardiner saw her sister-in-law start suddenly and gasp forbreath, and her face grew alarmingly white as she answered, hoarsely:
"A theory of--of--how your brother's condition came about!" shegasped, rather than spoke the words. "Then you--you--donot--believe--Andrew's--statement?"
"No!" replied Margaret Gardiner, in that same high, clear, solemn voicethat seemed to vibrate through every pore of Sally's body. "I thinkAndrew fully believes what he states to be the truth; but he has notdeceived. He has been most cleverly fooled by some one else."
"What--what--makes you--think that?" cried Sally, sharply. "Those arestrong words and a strange accusation to make, Miss Margaret."
"I am quite well aware of that," was the slow reply.
And as Jay's sister uttered the words, Sally could feel the strong gazewhich accompanied them burn like fire to the very depths of her beatingheart.
What did Margaret Gardiner suspect? Surely, she would never think ofsuspecting that she--his bride--had any hand in Jay's illness? Therewould be no apparent reason.
"Shall I tell you whom I suspect knows more of this than----"
"Doctor Baker, miss," announced one of the servants; and the coming ofthe famous old doctor put a stop to all further conversation for thepresent, much to Sally's intense relief.
CHAPTER L.
Young Mrs. Gardiner looked fearfully and eagerly into the face of thestern-countenanced old doctor who had just entered and had stepped uphurriedly to his patient's bedside.
He had heard from the messenger who had come for him just what hadoccurred to Jay Gardiner, and he was greatly puzzled.
"The toothache drops you speak of were compounded by me," he declared,"and they certainly do not act as you describe. Ten drops would producebalmy sleep. An overdose acts as an emetic, and would not remain amoment's time on the stomach. That is their chief virtue--in renderingan overdose harmless. I am confident the mischief can not lie with thetoothache drops."
Doctor Baker had entered and gone directly to the bedside of hispatient, as we have said, simply nodding to Miss Margaret, and notwaiting for an introduction to the bride. The moment his eyes fell uponhis patient, he gave a start of surprise.
"Ah," he muttered, "my case of instruments! Hand them to me quickly.This is a case of life or death! Not an instant's time is to be lost. Idare not wait for the coming of the consulting physicians who have beensent for."
"What are you about to do?" cried Sally, springing forward, her eyesgleaming.
"I am about to perform a critical operation to save my patient's life,if it be possible. Every instant of time is valuable."
"I say it shall not be done!" cried young Mrs. Gardiner. "I, his wife,command that you do not proceed until the rest of the doctors sent forarrive and sanction such an action!"
The old doctor flushed hotly. Never, in all the long years of hispractice, had his medical judgment ever been brought into questionbefore, and at first, anger and resentment rose in quick rebellion inhis heart; the next instant he had reasoned with himself that this youngwife should be pardoned for her words, which had been uttered in thegreatest stress of excitement.
"My dear Mrs. Gardiner--for such I presume you to be--your interferenceat this critical moment, attempting to thwart my judgment, would--ay, Isay _would_--prove fatal to your husband. This is a moment when aphysician must act upon his own responsibility, knowing that a humanlife depends upon his swiftness and his skill, I beg of you to leave allto me."
"I say it shall not be!" cried Sally, flinging herself across herhusband's prostrate body. "Touch him at your peril, Doctor Baker!"
For an instant all in the apartment were almost dumbfounded. MissMargaret was the first to recover herself.
"Sally," she said, approaching her sister-in-law slowly, her blue eyeslooking stealthily down into the glittering, frenzied green ones, "comewith me. You want to save Jay's life, don't you? Put down that knife,and come with me. You are wasting precious moments that may mean life ordeath to the one we both love. Let me plead with you, on my knees, ifneed be, to come with me, dear."
Sally Gardiner stood at bay like a lioness. Quick as a flash, she hadthought out the situation.
If Jay Gardiner died, she would be free to fly with Victor Lament. Ifshe refused to allow the doctor to touch him, he would die, and neverdiscover the loss of the diamonds, or that she had borrowed money fromhis friends on leaving Newport.
If he died, she would be a wealthy woman for life, and she would neverbe obliged to look again into the face of the handsome husband whom shehated--the husband who hated her, and who did not take the pains toconceal it in his every act each day since he had married her.
Ah! if he only died here and now it would save her from all the illsthat menaced her and were closing in around her. This was heropportunity. Fate--fortune had put the means of saving herself in herhands.
Even the good doctor was sorely perplexed. He saw that young Mrs.Gardiner was a desperate woman, and that she meant what she said.
"Will nothing under Heaven cause you to relent?" cried Margaret,wringing her hands, her splendid courage breaking down completely underthe great strain of her agony. "My poor mother lies in the next room ina death-like swoon, caused by the knowledge of her idolized son's fatalillness. If he should die, she w
ould never see another morning's sunafter she learned of it. One grave would cover both."
CHAPTER LI.
We must now return to Bernardine, dear reader.
"Oh, I was mad--mad to remain a single instant beneath this roof when Idiscovered whose home it was!" she moaned, sinking down on the nearesthassock and rocking herself to and fro in an agony of despair. "I--Icould have lived my life better if I had not looked upon his face again,or seen the bride who had won his love from me. I will go, I will leavethis grand house at once. Let them feast and make merry. None of themknows that a human heart so near them is breaking slowly under its loadof woe."
She tried to rise and cross the floor, but her limbs refused to act. Aterrible numbness had come over them, every muscle of her body seemed topain her.
"Am I going to be ill?" she cried out to herself in the wildest alarm."No, no--that _must not_ be; they would be sure to call upon _him_to--to aid me, and that would kill me--yes, kill me!"
Her body seemed to burn like fire, while her head, her feet, and herhands were ice cold. Her lips were parched with a terrible thirst.
"I must go away from here," she muttered. "If I am going to die, let itbe out in the grounds, with my face pressed close to the cold earth,that is not more cold to me than the false heart of the man to whom Ihave given my love beyond recall."
Like one whose sight had suddenly grown dim, Bernardine groped her wayfrom the magnificent _boudoir_ out into the corridor, her one thoughtbeing to reach her own apartment, secure her bonnet and cloak, and getout of the house. She had scarcely reached the first turn in thecorridor, ere she came face to face with a woman robed in costly satin,and all ablaze with diamonds, who was standing quite still and lookingabout her in puzzled wonder.