"Thank G.o.d!" Laura sat down by the opposite side of the bed. Presently, by a sign, she asked Ghisleri whether he would not go home.
"I will wait in the drawing-room until the doctor comes, and the other sister has arrived for the day," he said, coming to her side.
She merely nodded, and he quietly went out. Before long, Donald brought him some coffee, and he sat where he had sat in the early part of the night, anxiously awaiting the doctor"s coming.
There was little enough to be learned, when the latter actually came. A very bad case, he said, so bad that he would not be averse to asking the opinion of a colleague,--and later, the same colleague came, saw Arden, shook his head, and said that it was the worst case he had ever seen, but that the treatment so far was perfectly correct.
There was nothing to be done, but to take the best care possible of the patient. Ghisleri had no hope whatever, and Laura became almost totally silent. She could not be paler than she was, but Pietro almost fancied that she was growing hourly thinner, while the sad eyes seemed to sink deeper and deeper beneath the marble brow. He went home for a few hours to dress, and returned at midday. The loss of one night"s rest had not even told upon his face, but his expression was grave and reserved in the extreme, and his manner even more than usually quiet. Laura had not slept since her nap in the drawing-room, and looked exhausted, though she was not yet really tired out. Ghisleri thought it was time to speak seriously to her.
"My dear Lady Herbert," he said, "forgive me for being quite frank. This is not a time for turning phrases. You must positively rest, or you will break down and you may be dangerously ill yourself."
"I do not feel tired," she said.
"Your nerves keep you up. I entreat you to think of what I say, and I must say it. You may risk your own life, if you please; it is natural that you should run at least the risk of contagion, but you have no right to risk another life than your own by uselessly wearing out your strength. Besides, Arden is unconscious now; when he begins to recover he will need you far more, and will not need me at all."
A very slight blush rose in Laura"s pale cheeks, and she turned away her face. A short pause followed.
"I think you are right," she said at last. Then, without looking at him, she left the room.
Ghisleri watched her until she disappeared, and there was a strange expression in his usually hard blue eyes. It seemed as though the woman could do nothing without touching some sensitive, sympathetic chord in his inner nature, though her presence left him apparently perfectly cold and indifferent. Yet he had known himself so long, that he dreaded the sensation, and his ever-ready self-contempt rose at the idea that he could possibly find himself capable of loving his friend"s wife, even in the most distant future. Besides, there was nothing at all really resembling love in what he felt, so far as he could judge. If it ever developed into love, it would turn out to be a love so far n.o.bler than anything there had been in his life, as to be at present beyond his comprehension.
He did not see Laura again for several hours. He spent the day in Arden"s room, and for the first time felt that he was of use when his strength was needed to lift the frail body from one bed to the other.
Arden grew rapidly worse, Ghisleri thought, and the doctor confirmed his opinion when he came for the third time that day.
"To be quite frank," he said gravely, as he took leave of Pietro in the hall, "I have no hope of his recovery, and I doubt whether he will last until to-morrow night."
This was no surprise to Ghisleri, who knew how little strength of resistance lay in the crippled frame. He bent his head in silence as the physician went out, and he almost shivered as he thought of what was before him. He knew now that he must stand by Laura"s side at the near last moment of great suffering, when she was to see the one being she loved pa.s.s away before her eyes. He was more than ever glad that he had induced her to rest. Arden"s mind was still wandering, and she could be of no immediate use.
So the day ended at last and the night began and wore on, much like the previous one, saving that the anxiety of all was trebled. The other sister had returned, and Ghisleri saw by her face that she had no hope.
With the same faultless regularity she performed her duties through the long hours.
Towards midnight Laura and Ghisleri met in the drawing-room. For several minutes she stood in silence before the fire. Pietro could see that her lips were trembling as though she were on the point of bursting into tears. He knew how proud she must be, and he moved away towards the door. She heard his step behind her, and without turning round she beckoned to him with her hand to stay. He came back and stood at a little distance from her. Still she was silent for a moment; then she spoke.
"It is coming," she said unsteadily. "You must help me to bear it."
"I will do my best," answered Ghisleri, earnestly.
Another pause followed. Then again she made a gesture, hurried and almost violent, bidding him leave her. Before he could reach the door he heard her first sob, and as he closed it behind him the storm of her pa.s.sionate grief broke upon the silence of the night. He was not a man easily moved to any outward demonstration of feeling, but the tears stood in his eyes as he went back to Arden"s bedside, and they were not for the friend he was so soon to lose.
The sick man was unconscious and lay quite still on his back with closed lids. The sister was on her feet, watching him intently. She shook her head sadly when Ghisleri looked at her. The end was not far off, as she in her great experience well knew. In hot haste Pietro sent for the doctor, with a message saying that Lord Herbert was dying. But when he came he admitted reluctantly that he could do nothing; there was no hope even of prolonging life until morning.
"Lady Herbert should be told the truth," he said. "If you wish it I will wait in another room until the end."
"I think it would be better. Lady Herbert knows that there is no hope, but she will feel less nervous if you are at hand. How long do you expect--?"
"He will not live many minutes after he comes to himself, I should say.
The little strength there was is all gone. There will be a lucid interval of a few moments, and then the heart will stop. It was always defective."
"Then Lady Herbert ought to be with him now, in case it comes," said Ghisleri.
He left the doctor in the little room which Arden had used as a study, and went back to the drawing-room, feeling that one of the hardest moments of his life had come. Laura was seated in a deep chair, leaning back, her eyes half-closed and her cheeks still wet with tears. She started as Ghisleri entered.
"The doctor has seen him again," he said. "If you are able, it would be better--" He stopped, for he saw that she understood.
They went back together. As they entered the room they heard Arden"s weak voice.
"Laura, darling, where are you?" he was asking. Ghisleri saw that he was quite in possession of his faculties and went quietly out, leaving him with his wife and the sister.
"I am here, love," Laura answered, coming swiftly up to his side and supporting him as he tried to sit up.
"It was so long," he said faintly. "I am so glad you have come, dear."
"You must not try to talk. You must not tire yourself."
"It can make no difference now," he answered, letting his head rest upon her shoulder. "I must speak, dear one--this once before I die. Yes, I know I am dying. It is better so. I have had in you all that G.o.d has to give, all the happiness of a long life, in these short months."
He paused and drew a painful breath. Laura"s face was like alabaster, but she did not break down again now until all was over.
"I owe it all to you--my life"s love. You have given me so much, and I have given you so little. But G.o.d will give it all back to you, dear, some day. There is one thing I must say--oh, my breath!"
He gasped in an agonised way, and almost choked. Laura thought it was the end, but he rallied again presently.
"One thing, darling--you must remember, if you have loved me--ah, and you have, dear--that no promise binds you. You must try and think that if you forego any happiness for the memory of me, you will be taking that same happiness from me as well as from yourself. It will be right and just that you should marry if you wish to."
"Oh, Herbert! Herbert!" cried Laura, pressing him to her, "do not talk so!"
"Promise me that you will never think yourself bound," he said earnestly, speaking with more and more effort. "I shall not die happily unless you do."
Laura bowed her head.
"I promise it, dear, because you wish it."
"Thank you, love."
He was silent for some time. He seemed to be thinking, or at least trying to collect his last thoughts.
"If it is a little girl, call her Laura," he said, in a breaking voice.
"Then I shall know her in heaven, if she comes to me before you."
"Or else Herbert," said Laura, softly.
He moved his head a little in a.s.sent.
"Darling," he said presently, "always remember that my last breath is a blessing for you."
Very tenderly she pressed him to her heart and kissed him. Not till long afterwards did she realise the perfect unselfishness of the man"s end, nor how every word so painfully spoken was meant to forestall and soothe her coming sorrow.
"Say a prayer for me, darling--it is not far off. Say something in your own words--they will be better heard."