it were. I was not quite satisfied
about leaving her alone for too long a time together--and then, again,
I was unwilling to risk throwing her into one of her fits of passion
by going back before she rang for me. It ended in my venturing into
the room on the ground-floor called the Morning-Room, to consult Mr.
Macallan. He was usually to be found there in the forenoon of the day.

"On this occasion, however, when I looked into the Morning-Room it was
empty.

"At the same moment I heard the master's voice on the terrace outside.
I went out, and found him speaking to one Mr. Dexter, an old friend of
his, and (like Mrs. Beauly) a guest staying in the house. Mr. Dexter was
sitting at the window of his room upstairs (he was a cripple, and could
only move himself about in a chair on wheels), and Mr. Macallan was
speaking to him from the terrace below.

"'Dexter!' I heard Mr. Macallan say. 'Where is Mrs. Beauly? Have you
seen anything of her?'

"Mr. Dexter answered, in his quick, off-hand way of speaking, 'Not I. I
know nothing about her.'

"Then I advanced, and, begging pardon for intruding, I mentioned to Mr.
Macallan the difficulty I was in about going back or not to his wife's
room without waiting until she rang for me. Before he could advise me
in the matter, the footman made his appearance and informed me that Mrs.
Macallan's bell was then ringing--and ringing violently.

"It was then close on eleven o'clock. As fast as I could mount the
stairs I hastened back to the bedroom.

"Before I opened the door I heard Mrs. Macallan groaning. She was in
dreadful pain; feeling a burning heat in the stomach and in the throat,
together with the same sickness which had troubled her in the early
morning. Though no doctor, I could see in her face that this second
attack was of a far more serious nature than the first. After ringing
the bell for a messenger to send to Mr. Macallan, I ran to the door to
see if any of the servants happened to be within call.

"The only person I saw in the corridor was Mrs. Beauly. She was on
her way from her own room, she said, to inquire after Mrs. Macallan's
health. I said to her, 'Mrs. Macallan is seriously ill again, ma'am.
Would you please tell Mr. Macallan, and send for the doctor?' She ran
downstairs at once to do as I told her.

"I had not been long back at the bedside when Mr. Macallan and Mrs.
Beauly both came in together. Mrs. Macallan cast a strange look on them
(a look I cannot at