“Good God!” he cried suddenly. “I can’t stand this! I--”
Lexy came nearer to him.
“Don’t stand it!” she whispered. “Take her away! Can’t you _see_? Take
her away!”
“How can I? Her husband--she doesn’t want to go.”
“Make her! Oh, can’t you see? He’s giving her some horrible drug!”
“You mustn’t be alarmed,” said Dr. Quelton’s voice from the hall. They
both looked at him with a guilty start, but his blank eyes were staring
past them, at nothing. “It is unfortunate,” he said. “The little
excitement of this visit--”
He walked past them into the room and over to the table, where his pipe
lay among the chessmen. He lit it deliberately and stood smoking it,
with one arm resting on the mantelpiece.
“In her present highly nervous condition,” he went on, “the little
excitement of this visit has proved too much for her. I shall drive over
to the hospital and fetch a nurse--”
“A nurse!” cried the young man. “Then she’s--”
“There is absolutely no occasion for alarm, as I told you before. A few
days’ rest and quiet--”
“Look here, sir!” said Captain Grey. “It seems to me--I’ve no wish to be
offensive, or anything of that sort, but it seems right to me”--he
paused for a moment--“to get a second opinion.”
“I shouldn’t advise it,” replied the doctor blandly.
“Possibly not, sir; but perhaps you would be willing to oblige me to
that extent. I don’t want to insist--”
“I wouldn’t, if I were you.”
There was a faint flush on the young man’s dark face.
“Nevertheless--” he began, but again the doctor interrupted him.
“My dear young man,” he said, “you oblige me to be frank. I should have
preferred a discreet silence; but as you are obviously determined to
make the matter as difficult as possible, you must hear the truth. For
some years your sister has been addicted to the use of certain drugs.
When I discovered this, I set about trying to cure the addiction. You
probably have no idea what that means. I venture to say that there is
nothing--absolutely nothing--more difficult in the entire field of
medicine. I have been working on the case for more than a year, and I
have made distinct progress; but it will be some time before the cure is
completed, and I can assure you that it never will be unless I am left
undisturbed. There is no other man now living who can do what I am
doing.”
He spoke gravely and coldly, and his blank eyes were fixed upon Captain
Grey with a sort of sternness; but Lexy had a curious impression--more
than an impression, a certainty--that within himself Dr. Quelton was
laughing.
“If you care to take another doctor into your confidence,” he went on,
“I can scarcely refuse permission; but you will regret it.”
The young man said nothing. He turned away and stood by the open window,
looking out into the dark garden. Lexy waited for a moment. Then, with a
subdued “Good night,” she went out of the room, up the stairs, and into
her own room.
“It’s a lie!” she said to herself.