"MRS. PETER THOMPKINS"
"Murder!"
Crichton looked at the girl. Her eyes were closed and she lay back
breathing heavily. He did not know if she had even heard the accusation.
Luckily the train was already moving. In a few minutes, however, they
would be in London and then what should he do with her? Now that he had
declared her to be his wife, it would arouse the suspicion of the police
if he parted from her at the station. Besides, he could not desert the
poor child in her terrible predicament. For she was innocent, he was
sure of that. But here he was wasting precious time worrying about the
future, when he ought to be doing something to revive her. It was simply
imperative that she should be able to leave the train without exciting
remark, as, once outside the station, the immediate danger would be
over. His ministrations, however, were quite ineffectual, and, to his
dismay, the train came to a standstill before she showed a sign of
returning consciousness.
A porter opened the door.
"Bring a glass of water; the lady has fainted," he ordered. The porter
returned in a few minutes followed by the police inspector. Crichton's
heart sank. He fancied the latter eyed them with reawakened suspicion.
As he knelt by the girl's side, her head on his shoulder, his arms
around her, he suddenly became aware that a number of people had
collected near the door and were watching the scene with unconcealed
interest And among them stood Peter, his valet, staring at him with
open-mouthed amazement.
Damn! He had completely forgotten him. If he didn't look out, the fellow
would be sure to give the situation away.
"Peter," he called.
Peter elbowed his way through the crowd.
"Your mistress has fainted. Get my flask." Crichton spoke slowly and
distinctly and looked Peter commandingly in the eye. Would he
understand? Would he hold his tongue? Crichton watched him breathlessly.
For a moment Peter blinked at him uncomprehendingly. Then the surprise
slowly faded from his face, leaving it as stolid as usual.
"Very well, sir," was all he said as he went off automatically to do his
master's bidding. An order has a wonderfully steadying effect on a
well-trained servant.
The brandy having been brought, Crichton tried to force a few drops of
it between the girl's clenched teeth. After a few minutes, however, he
had to abandon the attempt.
The situation was desperate.
The inspector stepped forward.
"Don't you think, sir, you ought to send for a doctor? The lady looks
bad and she can't stay here, you know. The train has to be backed out in
a few minutes. We'll carry her to the waiting-room if you wish, or come
to think of it, hadn't you better call an ambulance? Then you could take
the lady home and the doctor who comes with them things would know what
to do for her."
Crichton almost gasped with relief.
"An ambulance! The very thing. Get one immediately!"
The last passenger was just leaving the station when the ambulance
clattered up.
The doctor, although hardly more than a boy, seemed to know his
business, and after examining the girl and asking a few questions, he
proceeded to administer various remedies, which he took out of a bag he
carried.
"I am afraid this case is too serious for me," he said at last.
"What is the trouble?"
"Of course, I can't speak with any certainty, but from what you tell me,
I think the lady is in for an attack of brain fever."
Crichton felt _his_ brain reel.
"What shall I do?"
"We will take her home and in the meantime telephone to whatever doctor
you wish to have called, so that he can see the patient as soon as
possible."
"I have no house in town. I was going into lodgings but I can't take an
invalid there."
"Of course not! What do you say to taking her at once to a nursing
home?"
"Yes, that would be best. Which one would you recommend? I am ignorant
of such matters."
"Well--Dr. Stuart-Smith has one not far from here. You know him by
reputation, don't you?"
"Certainly. All right, take her there."
"I had better telephone and prepare them for our arrival. What is the
lady's name, please?"
The inspector's eyes were upon him; Peter was at his elbow. Well--there
was no help for it.
"Mrs. Cyril Crichton," he said.
The doctor returned in a few minutes.
"It is all right. They have got a room and Doctor Smith will be there
almost as soon as we are."
Having lifted her into the ambulance, the doctor turned to Cyril and
said: "I suppose you prefer to accompany Mrs. Crichton. You can get in,
in front."
Crichton meekly obeyed.
"Take my things to the lodgings and wait for me there, and by the way,
be sure to telephone at once to Mr. Campbell and tell him I must see him
immediately," he called to Peter as they drove off.
They had apparently got rid of the police--that was something at all
events. His own position, however, caused him the gravest concern. It
was not only compromising but supremely ridiculous. He must extricate
himself from it at once. His only chance, he decided, lay in confiding
the truth to Dr. Smith. Great physicians have necessarily an enormous
knowledge of life and therefore he would be better able than any other
man to understand the situation and advise him as to what should be
done. At all events the etiquette of his calling would prevent a doctor
from divulging a professional secret, even in the case of his failing to
sympathise with his, Cyril's, knight-errantry. Crichton heaved a sigh of
satisfaction. His troubles, he foresaw, would soon be over.
The ambulance stopped. The girl was carried into the house and taken
possession of by an efficient-looking nurse, and Cyril was requested to
wait in the reception-room while she was being put to bed. Dr. Smith, he
was told, would communicate with him as soon as he had examined the
patient.
Crichton paced the room in feverish impatience. His doubts revived. What
if the doctor should refuse to keep her? Again and again he rehearsed
what he intended to say to him, but the oftener he did so, the more
incredible did his story appear. It also occurred to him that a
physician might not feel himself bound to secrecy when it was a question
of concealing facts other than those relating to a patient's physical
condition. What if the doctor should consider it his duty to inform the
police of her whereabouts?
At last the door opened. Dr. Smith proved to be a short, grey-haired man
with piercing, black eyes under beetling, black brows, large nose, and a
long upper lip. Cyril's heart sank. The doctor did not look as if he
would be likely to sympathise with his adventure.
"Mr. Crichton, I believe." The little man spoke quite fiercely and
regarded our friend with evident disfavour.
Crichton was for a moment nonplussed. What had he done to be addressed
in such a fashion?
"I hope you can give me good news of the patient?" he said, disregarding
the other's manner.
"No," snapped out the doctor. "Mrs. Crichton is very seriously, not to
say dangerously, ill."
What an extraordinary way of announcing a wife's illness to a supposed
husband! Was every one mad to-day?
"I am awfully sorry--" began Crichton.
"Oh, you are, are you?" interrupted the doctor, and this time there
could be no doubt he was intentionally insulting. "Will you then be kind
enough to explain how your wife happens to be in the condition she is?"
"What condition?" faltered Cyril.
"Tut, man, don't pretend to be ignorant. Remember I am a doctor and can
testify to the facts; yes, facts," he almost shouted.
Poor Crichton sat down abruptly. He really felt he could bear no more.
"For God's sake, doctor, tell me what is the matter with her. I swear I
haven't the faintest idea."
His distress was so evidently genuine that the doctor relaxed a little
and looked at him searchingly for a moment.
"Your wife has been recently flogged!"
"Flogged! How awful! But I can't believe it."
"Indeed!"
"Certainly not. You must be mistaken. The bruises may be the result of a
fall."
"They are not," snapped the doctor.
"Flogged! here in England, in the twentieth century! But who could have
done such a thing?"
"That is for you to explain, and I must warn you that unless your
explanation is unexpectedly satisfactory, I shall at once notify the
police."
Police! Crichton wiped beads of perspiration from his forehead.
"But, doctor, I know no more about it than you do."
"So you think that it will be sufficient for you to deny all knowledge
as to how, where, and by whom a woman who is your wife--yes, sir--your
wife, has been maltreated? Man, do you take me for a fool?"
What should he do? Was this the moment to tell him the truth? No, it
would be useless. The doctor, believing him to be a brute, was not in a
frame of mind to attach credence to his story. The truth was too
improbable, a convincing lie could alone save the situation.
"My wife and I have not been living together lately," he stammered.
"Indeed!" The piercing eyes seemed to grow more piercing, the long upper
lip to become longer.
"Yes," Crichton hesitated--it is so difficult to invent a plausible
story on the spur of the moment. "In fact, I met her quite unexpectedly
in Newhaven."
"In Newhaven?"
"Yes. I have just arrived from France," continued Crichton more
fluently. An idea was shaping itself in his mind. "I was most astonished
to meet my wife in England as I had been looking for her in Paris for
the last week."
"I don't understand."
"My wife is unfortunately mentally unbalanced. For the last few months
she has been confined in an asylum." Crichton spoke with increasing
assurance.
"Where was this asylum?"
"In France."
"Yes, but where? France is a big place."
"It is called Charleroi and is about thirty miles from Paris in the
direction of Fontainebleau."
"Who is the director of this institution?"
"Dr. Leon Monet."
"And you suggest that it was there that she was ill-treated. Let me tell
you----"
Cyril interrupted him.
"I suggest no such thing. My wife escaped from Charleroi over a week
ago. We know she went to Paris, but there we lost all trace of her.
Imagine my astonishment at finding her on the train this morning. How
she got there, I can't think. She seemed very much agitated, but I
attributed that to my presence. I have lately had a most unfortunate
effect upon her. I did ask her how she got the bruise on her cheek, but
she wouldn't tell me. I had no idea she was suffering. If I had been
guilty of the condition she is in, is it likely that I should have
brought her to a man of your reputation and character? I think that
alone proves my innocence."
The doctor stared at him fixedly for a few moments as if weighing the
credibility of his explanation.
"You say that the physician under whose care your wife has been is
called Monet?"
"Yes, Leon Monet."
The doctor left the room abruptly. When he returned, his bearing had
completely changed.
"I have just verified your statement in a French medical directory and I
must apologise to you for having jumped at conclusions in the way I did.
Pray, forgive me----"
Crichton bowed rather distantly. He didn't feel over-kindly to the man
who had forced him into such a quagmire of lies.
"Now as to--" Cyril hesitated a moment; he detested calling the girl by
his name. "Now--as to--to--the patient. Have you any idea when she is
likely to recover consciousness?"
"Not the faintest. Of course, what you tell me of her mental condition
increases the seriousness of the case. With hysterical cases anything
and everything is possible."
"But you do not fear the--worst."
"Certainly not. She is young. She will receive the best of care. I see
no reason why she should not recover. Now if you would like to remain
near her----"
There seemed a conspiracy to keep him forever at the girl's side, but
this time he meant to break away even if he had to fight for it.
"I shall, of course, remain near her," Cyril interrupted hastily. "I
have taken lodgings in Half Moon Street and shall stay there till she
has completely recovered. As she has lately shown the most violent
dislike of me, I think I had better not attempt to see her for the
present. Don't you agree with me?"
"Certainly. I should not permit it under the circumstances."
"I shall call daily to find out how she is, and if there is any change
in her condition, you will, of course, notify me at once." Crichton took
out a card and scribbled his address on it. "This will always find me.
And now I have a rather delicate request to make. Would you mind not
letting any one know the identity of your patient? You see I have every
hope that she will eventually recover her reason and therefore I wish
her malady to be kept a secret. I have told my friends that my wife is
in the south of France undergoing a species of rest cure."
"I think you are very wise. I shall not mention her name to any one."
"But the nurses?"
"It is a rule of all nursing homes that a patient's name is never to be
mentioned to an outsider. But if you wish to take extra precautions, you
might give her another name while she is here and they need never know
that it is not her own."
"Thank you. That is just what I should wish."
"What do you think Mrs. Crichton had better be called?"
Cyril thought a moment.
"Mrs. Peter Thompkins, and I will become Mr. Thompkins. Please address
all communications to me under that name; otherwise the truth is sure to
leak out."
"But how will you arrange to get your mail?"
"Peter Thompkins is my valet, so that is quite simple."
"Very well. Good-bye, Mr. Thompkins. I trust I shall soon have a better
report to give you of Mrs. Thompkins."
A moment later Cyril was in a taxi speeding towards Mayfair, a free
man--for the moment.