The Man in Black: An Historical Novel of the Days of Queen Anne

by G. P. R. James

  CHAPTER XLVIII.

  When the surgeon entered the room of Lady Hastings there was aprofound silence. Sir Philip Hastings was standing by his wife'sbedside, motionless as a statue; gazing with a knitted brow and fixedstony eye upon the features of her whom he had so well and constantlyloved. Emily lay fainting upon the floor, with her head supported byone of the maids, while another tried to recall her to life. Two moreservants were the room, but they, like all the rest, remained silentin presence of the awful scene before them. The windows were not yetclosed, and the faint, struggling, gray twilight, came in, and mingledsombrely with the pale light of the wax candles, giving even a moredeathlike hue to the face of the corpse, and throwing strange crossinglights and shades upon features which remained convulsed even afterthe agony of death was past.

  "Good God! Sir Philip, what is this I hear?" exclaimed Mr. Shortbefore he caught the whole particulars of the scene.

  Sir Philip Hastings made no answer. He did not even seem to hear; andthe surgeon advanced to the bedside, and gazed for an instant on theface of Lady Hastings. He took her hand in his. It was still warm; butwhen he put his fingers on her wrist, no pulse vibrated beneath histouch. The heart, too, was quite still: not a flutter indicated alingering spark of vitality. The breath was gone; and though thesurgeon sought on the dressing-table for a small mirror, and appliedit to the lips, it remained undimmed. He shook his head sadly; but yethe made some efforts. He took a vial of essence from his pocket, andapplied it to the nostrils; he opened a vein, and a few drops of bloodissued from it, but stopped immediately; and several other experimentshe tried, that not a lingering doubt might remain of death havingtaken possession completely.

  At length he ceased, saying, "It is in vain. How did this happen? Itis very strange. There was not an indication of such an eventyesterday. She was decidedly better."

  "And so she was this morning, sir," said Lady, Hastings' maid; "sheslept quite well too, sir, before Mrs. Hazleton came."

  Sir Philip Hastings remained profoundly silent; but Mr. Short gave asudden start at the name of Mrs. Hazleton, and asked the maid whenthat lady had left her mistress.

  "Not half an hour before her death, sir," replied the maid; "and evenfor a little time after she was gone, my lady seemed quite well andcheerful with Mistress Emily."

  "Were you with her when she was seized so suddenly?" asked thesurgeon.

  "No, sir," said the maid. "No one was with her but Mistress Emily. Mylady had sent me away for lights; but just when I was coming up thestairs, I heard my young lady ringing the bell violently, andscreaming for help, and in two minutes after I came in my lady wasdead."

  "I must hear the first symptoms," said Mr. Short, "and this dear younglady needs attending to. If I know her right, this shock will wellnigh kill her."

  He moved towards Emily as he spoke, but in passing across, his eyelighted upon the vial which was standing upon the table at thebedside, with the spoon and wine-glass which had been used inadministering the medicine. Something in the appearance of the bottleseemed to strike him suddenly, and he raised it sharply and held it tothe candle. "Good God!" exclaimed Mr. Short; "Good God!" and his faceturned as pale as death, and a fit of trembling seized upon him.

  It was several moments before he uttered another word. He put his handto his brow, and seemed to think deeply and anxiously. Then heexamined the bottle again, took out the cork, held it to his nostrils,tasted a single drop poured upon the end of his finger, and shook hishead sadly and solemnly. Every eye but those of the maid, who wassupporting Emily's head, was now turned upon him. There was somethingin his manner so unusual, so strange, that even the attention of SirPhilip Hastings was attracted by it; and he looked gloomily at thesurgeon for a moment, as if in a dreamy wonder at his proceedings.

  At length, Mr. Short spoke again. "Can any body tell me," he said,"when Lady Hastings took a dose of this stuff?"

  No one remarked the irreverent term which he applied to the contentsof the vial; for every one who listened to him would probably havegiven it the same name, had it been a mithridate; but the maid of thedeceased lady replied at once, "Only a few minutes before she died,sir. I saw her take it myself."

  "Who gave it to her?" demanded the surgeon, sternly.

  "My young lady, sir," answered the maid, "just before I went for thelights, and I am sure she did not give her a drop too much of it; forshe measured it out carefully in the spoon before she put it into theglass."

  Mr. Short remained silent again, and Sir Philip Hastings spoke for thefirst time with a great effort.

  "What is the matter, sir?" he asked, gloomily; "you seem confounded,thunder-struck. What has befallen to draw your eyes from that?" and hepointed to the bed of his dead wife.

  "I am bound to say, Sir Philip," replied Mr. Short, "that it is mybelief that the dose given to Lady Hastings from that bottle, has beenthe cause of her death. In a word, I believe it to be poison."

  Sir Philip Hastings gazed in his face with a wild look of horror. Histeeth chattered in his head, his whole frame shook visibly to the eyesof those around, but he uttered not a word, and it was the maid whoanswered, exclaiming in a shrill voice, "Oh, how horrible! How couldyou send my lady such stuff?"

  "I never sent it to her, woman!" said Mr. Short, sternly; "if you hadeyes you would see that it is not of the same color, nor has it thesame taste of that which I sent. It is different in every respect; andif no other proof were wanting that which I sent Lady Hastings washarmless, it would be sufficient to say, that the last vial I broughtwas delivered to you yourself yesterday quite full, that Lady Hastingsought to have taken four or five doses of that medicine between thattime and this, and----"

  "Oh, yes!" exclaimed the maid, interrupting him, "she took it quiteregularly. I saw Mistress Emily give her three doses myself."

  "Well, did those hurt her?" asked Mr. Short, sharply.

  "I can't say they did," replied the woman, "indeed she always seemedbetter a little while after taking them."

  "Well that shows that this is not the same," said Mr. Short; "besides,this bottle has never come out of my surgery. I always choose mineperfectly clear and white, that I may be enabled to see if themedicine is at all troubled or not. This has a green tinge, and musthave come from some common druggist's, and the stuff that it containsmust be strictly analyzed."

  As he spoke, Sir Philip Hastings strode up to him, grasped his hand,and wrung it hard, saying in a hollow husky tone, and pointing to thebottle, "What is it you mean? What is it all about? What is that?"

  "Poison! Sir Philip," replied Mr. Short, moved by the feelings of themoment beyond all his ordinary prudence; "poison! and I very much fearthat it has been administered to your poor lady intentionally."

  "Gathering herbs!--gathering herbs!" screamed Sir Philip Hastings,like a madman; and tearing the hair out of his head, he rushed awayfrom the room, and locked himself into his library.

  No one could tell to what his words alluded, nor did they troublethemselves much to discover; for every one at once concluded that theshock of his wife's sudden death, and the discovery of its terriblecause, had driven him insane.

  "Oh, do run after my master, sir," cried the maid; "he has gone intothe library, I heard him bang the door."

  "Has he got any arms there?" asked Mr. Short, "there used to bepistols at the Hall."

  "No, sir, no," exclaimed one of the housemaids, "they are not there.They are in his dressing-room out yonder."

  "Well, then, I will leave him alone for the present," said thesurgeon; "here is one who demands more immediate care. Poor younglady! If she should discover, in her present state of grief, how hermother has died, and that her hand has been employed to produce such acatastrophe, it will destroy either her life or her intellect."

  "But who could have done it, sir?" exclaimed Lady Hastings' maid.

  "Never you mind that for the present," said Mr. Short; "I have mysuspicions; but they are no more than suspicions at present. You staywith me here, and let the other woma
n carry your poor young lady toher room. I will be with her presently, and will give her what will doher good. One of you, as soon as possible, send me up a man-servant--agroom would be best."

  His orders were obeyed promptly; for he spoke with a tone of decisionand command which the terrible circumstances of the moment enabled himto assume; although in ordinary circumstances he was a man of mild andgentle character.

  As soon as poor Emily was borne away to her own chamber, Mr. Shortturned to the maid again, inquiring, "How long had Mistress Hazletongone when your mistress was seized with these fatal convulsions?"

  "About half an hour, sir," said the maid. "It couldn't have beenlonger. Mrs. Hazleton came when my lady was asleep, and went in alone,saying she would not disturb her."

  "Ha!" cried the surgeon; "was she with her for any time alone?"

  "All the time that she staid, sir," replied the maid; "for I did notlike to go in, and Mistress Emily was walking on the terrace up thehill."

  "I suppose then you cannot tell how long Mrs. Hazleton remained alonewith your lady before she woke?"

  "Yes, I can pretty nearly, sir," answered the maid, "for though Mrs.Hazleton told me not to come in with her, and said she would ring whenmy lady waked, I came after her into the anteroom, and sat there allthe time. For about five minutes, or it might be ten, all was quietenough; but at the end of that time I heard my lady and Mrs. Hazletonbegin to speak."

  "You heard no other sounds previously?" asked the surgeon.

  "Nothing but the rustle of Mrs. Hazleton's gown, as she moved aboutonce or twice," said the maid, "and of that I can't be rightly sure."

  "You did not by chance look through the key-hole?" asked Mr. Short.

  "No, that I didn't," said the maid, tossing her head, "I never didsuch a thing in my life."

  "Well, well. Get me a sheet of paper," replied the surgeon, "and a penand ink--oh, they are here are they?" But before he could sit down towrite, a groom crept in through the half-open door, and receivedorders from the surgeon to saddle a horse instantly and return. Mr.Short then sat down and wrote as follows:

  "Ma. ATKINSON:--As you are high constable of Hartwell, I write as ajustice of the peace for the county of ----, to authorize and requireyou to follow immediately the carriage of The Honorable MistressHazleton, to apprehend that lady and to keep her in your safe custody,taking care that her person be immediately searched by some properperson, and that any vials, bottles, powders, or other objectswhatsoever bearing the appearance of drugs or medicines, or of havingcontained them, be carefully preserved, and marked for identification.I have not time or menus to fill up a regular warrant; but I willjustify you in, and be responsible for, whatever you may do to insurethat Mrs. Hazleton has no means or opportunity allowed her ofconcealing or making away with any thing she has carried away fromthis house, where Lady Hastings has just deceased from the effects ofpoison. You had better take the fresh horse of the bearer, and losenot an instant in overtaking the carriage."

  He then signed his name just as the groom returned; but ere he gavethe man the paper he added in a postscript:

  "You had better search the carriage minutely, and make any preliminaryinvestigation that you may think fit before I arrive. The hints givenabove will be sufficient for your guidance."

  "Take this paper immediately to Jenny Best's cottage," said Mr. Shortto the groom. "Ask if Mr. Atkinson is there. Should he be so, give itto him, and let him take your horse if he requires it. Should you notfind him there, seek for him either at the house of Mr. Dixwell, or atthe farm close by. Should he be at neither of those places, follow himon to his house near Hartwell at full speed. Do you understand?"

  "Oh, quite well, sir," said the groom, who was a shrewd, keen fellow;and he left the room without more words.

  When he got down to the hall door, however, he thought he might aswell know more of his errand, and read the paper which he had receivedwith the butler and the foot man. A brief consultation followedbetween them, and not a little horror and anger was excited by theinformation they had gained from the paper, for Lady Hastings had beenwell loved by her servants, and Mrs. Hazleton was but little loved byany of her inferiors in station.

  "Go you on, John, as fast as possible," said the footman, "I'll get, ahorse and come after you as fast as possible with Harry; for thisgrand dame has three servants with her, and mayn't choose to be takeneasily."

  "Ay, come along, come along," said the groom; "we'll run her down,I'll warrant," and hurrying away he got to his horse's back.

  In the mean time Mr. Short had proceeded to the room of poor EmilyHastings, whom he found recovering from her fainting fit, and sobbingin the bitterness of grief.

  "Oh, Mr. Short," she said, "this is very terrible. There surely wassomething wrong about that medicine, for my poor mother was taken illthe moment she had swallowed it. She had had the same quantity threetimes to-day before; but she said that it tasted strange andunpleasant. It could not surely have been spoiled by keeping so shorta time, and that could not have killed her even if it had been so.Pray do examine it."

  "I will, I will, my dear," replied Mr. Short kindly, "but I don'tthink the medicine I sent could spoil, and if it did it could have noevil effect. Now quiet yourself, my dear Mistress Emily; I am going togive you a draught which will soothe your nerves, and fit you betterto bear all these terrible things."

  He then had recourse to the little store of medicines he usuallycarried in his pocket, and administered first a stimulant and then asomewhat powerful narcotic. For about ten minutes he remained seatedby Emily's bedside with her own maid standing at the foot, and duringthat time the poor girl spoke once or twice, asking anxiously afterher father, and expressing a great desire to go to him. Gradually,however, her eyelid's began to droop, her sentences remainedunfinished, and, in the end, she fell into a deep and profound sleep.

  "She will not wake for six or eight hours," said Mr. Short, addressingthe maid. "But when she does wake it would be better you should bewith her, my good girl. If you like, therefore, you can go and takesome rest in the meanwhile; but order yourself to be called at the endof five hours."

  "If you are quite sure that she will remain asleep, sir," said themaid, "I will lie down, for I am sure sorrow wearies one more thanwork."

  "She won't wake," said Mr. Short, "for six hours at least. I will nowgo and see Sir Philip," and descending the stairs he knocked at thedoor of the library, thinking that probably he should find it locked.The stern voice of Sir Philip Hastings, however, said "Come in," in awonderfully calm tone; and when the surgeon entered he found SirPhilip seated at the library table, and apparently reading a Greekbook, the contents of which Mr. Short could not at all divine.