"Tell me quickly," she said. "I am Maggie Deronnais."
He turned to walk by her side, saying nothing for a moment.
"The facts or the interpretation?" he asked in his brisk manner. "I will just say first that I have seen him this morning."
"Oh! the facts," she said. "Quickly, please."
"Well, he is going to Mr. Morton"s chambers this afternoon; he says..."
"What?"
"One moment, please.... Oh! he is not seriously ill, as the world counts illness. He thought he was just very tired this morning. I went round to call on him. He was in bed at half-past ten when I left him.
Then I came straight down here."
For a moment she thought the old man mad. The relief was so intense that she flushed scarlet, and stopped dead in the middle of the road.
"You came down here," she repeated. "Why, I thought--"
He looked at her gravely, in spite of the incessant twinkle in his eyes. She perceived that this old man"s eyes would twinkle at a death-bed. He stroked his grey beard smoothly down.
"Yes; you thought that he was dead, perhaps? Oh, no. But for all that, Miss Deronnais, it is just as serious as it can be."
She did not know what to think. Was the man a madman himself?
"Listen, please. I am telling you simply the facts. I was anxious, and I went round this morning first to Lady Laura Beth.e.l.l. To my astonishment she saw me. I will not tell you all that she said, just now. She was in a terrible state, though she did not know one-tenth of the harm--Well, after what she told me I went round straight to Mitre Court. The porter was inclined not to let me in. Well, I went in, and straight into Mr. Baxter"s bedroom; and I found there--"
He stopped.
"Yes?"
"I found exactly what I had feared, and expected."
"Oh! tell me quickly," she cried, wheeling on him in anger.
He looked at her as if critically for a moment. Then he went on abruptly.
"I found Mr. Baxter in bed. I made no apology at all. I said simply that I had come to see how he was after the _seance_."
"It took place, then--"
"Oh! yes.... I forgot to mention that Lady Laura would pay no attention to me yesterday.... Yes, it took place.... Well, Mr. Baxter did not seem surprised to see me. He told me he felt tired. He said that the _seance_ had been a success. And while he talked I watched him. Then I came away and caught the ten-fifty."
"I don"t understand in the least," said Maggie.
"So I suppose," said the other dryly. "I imagine you do not believe in spiritualism at all--I mean that you think that the whole thing is fraud or hysteria?"
"Yes, I do," said Maggie bravely.
He nodded once or twice.
"So do most sensible people. Well, Miss Deronnais, I have come to warn you. I did not write, because it was impossible to know what to say until I had seen you and heard your answer to that question. At the same time, I wanted to lose no time. Anything may happen now at any moment.... I wanted to tell you this: that I am at your service now altogether. When--" he stopped; then he began again, "If you hear no further news for the present, may I ask when you expect to see Mr.
Baxter again?"
"In Easter week."
"That is a fortnight off.... Do you think you could persuade him to come down here next week instead? I should like you to see him for yourself: or even sooner."
She was still hopelessly confused with these apparent alternations.
She still wondered whether Mr. Cathcart were as mad as he seemed. They turned, as the village came in sight ahead, up the hill.
"Next week? I could try," she said mechanically. "But I don"t understand--"
He held up a gloved hand.
"Wait till you have seen him," he said. "For myself, I shall make a point of seeing Mr. Morton every day to hear the news.... Miss Deronnais, I tell you plainly that you alone will have to bear the weight of all this, unless Mrs. Baxter--"
"Oh, do explain," she said almost irritably.
He looked at her with those irresistibly twinkling eyes, but she perceived a very steady will behind them.
"I will explain nothing at all," he said, "now that I have seen you, and heard what you think, except this single point. What you have to be prepared for is the news that Mr. Baxter has suddenly gone out of his mind."
It was said in exactly the same tone as his previous sentences, and for a moment she did not catch the full weight of its meaning. She stopped and looked at him, paling gradually.
"Yes, you took that very well," he said, still meeting her eyes steadily. "Stop.... Keep a strong hold on yourself. That is the worst you have to hear, for the present. Now tell me immediately whether you think Mrs. Baxter should be informed or not."
Her leaping heart slowed down into three or four gulping blows at the base of her throat. She swallowed with difficulty.
"How do you know--"
"Kindly answer my question," he said. "Do you think Mrs. Baxter--"
"Oh, G.o.d! Oh, G.o.d!" sobbed Maggie.
"Steady, steady," said the old man. "Take my arm, Miss Deronnais."
She shook her head, keeping her eyes fixed on his.
He smiled in his grey beard.
"Very good," he said, "very good. And do you think--"
She shook her head again.
"No: not one word. She is his mother. Besides--she is not the kind--she would be of no use."
"Yes: it is as I thought. Very well, Miss Deronnais; you will have to be responsible. You can wire for me at any moment. You have my address?"