The Argosy — page 79: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

66 Christobel. She interrupted him. ‘‘Speak!” she said, hoarsely. The baronet felt desperate. After all, the shock could not be great to her, he reflected ; and it was a relief to him to share the horror of his news with anybody. ‘“A sad accident has happened to my friend, Vandyken. Ze is dead,” he answered, bluntly. Miss Millicent turned half round, as people do when shot through the heart. She threw her arms suddenly apart; then, without a cry, fell senseless into Christobel’s embrace. After this all was confusion. Miss Millicent’s maid came rushing down in pursuit of her mistress, whom she had just missed. She ex- plained that Miss Millicent had been strangely restless all the evening, and on hearing Sir Edward’s peal at the door had sprung up, saying wildly that there was bad news—she knew it, felt it—and she ordered her maid to go down and enquire. Apparently, the woman had been too slow in returning for the impatience that consumed her mistress, -and by an effort which, in her actual condition, was little short of miraculous, Miss Millicent crept downstairs. This and the shock of hearing of Mr. Vandyken’s tragical end had presumably been too much for her, for she never rallied from this second attack. Her mind had been probably going for sometime, the doctors said, and this explained the extraordinary part she had played on the occasion of the American’s first visit to the Hall. Atany rate, if there were any other explanation, nobody learnt it, for Miss Milli- cent never spoke again. She remained in a state of coma for thirty- six hours, and then, just as the dawn of the second day broke, she died. Christobel tended her with untiring devotion, and was so absorbed in her self-imposed task as to overlook, entirely at first, the strange, unspoken hostility with which everybody, Godfrey alone ex- cepted, regarded her. Even Geraldine, although always gentle and even kind, was dis- tinctly colder than before. ‘The truth was, she could not entirely shake off the impression which she had received from a conversa- tion with Mrs. Chisholm on the night when Sir Edward had brought his dreadful news. Worn out with fatigue and excitement, she was preparing, very late, for bed, when a knock came at the door. She opened it to admit Mrs. Chisholm, who advanced with an air of portentous mystery which, as her young hostess felt even in that moment, sat strangely on her pretty little face. ‘Did you notice ?” asked the widow, without preliminary. “Notice what?” ‘Miss Fane’s extraordinary conduct.” ‘Extraordinary ? I thought her singularly calm and _ self-pos- sessed,” replied Geraldine, wearily, being in no mood for gossip. Mrs. Chisholm shook her head. ‘Mark my words, Geraldine ; that girl knows more than you think. She was with Mr. Vandyken at the Quarry this afternoon. When Sir Edward came in this even- econnicbooks (E©) m